\y/ \ 



%«^ 

-^:) 




PUBLICATIONS OF THE IPSWICH 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

VIII 



The Development of our town 
Government 



AND 



Common Lands and Commonage. 



WITH THE 



Proceedings at the Annual Meeting, 



December 4, 1899. 



Salem press; 
The Salem Press Co., Saleav, Mass, 

Igoo. 



/ 



3 



7<Ji 




IN THE KITCHEN, WHIPPLE HOUSE. 




IN THE WEST CHAMBER, WHIPPLE HOUSE. 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE IPSWICH 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

VIII 



THE Development of our Town 
Government 



AND 



Common Lands and commonage. 



By T. Frank Waters. 



WITH THE 



Proceedings at the Annual Meeting, 

December 4, 1899. 



Salem press : 
The Salem Press Co., Salem. Mass. 






Gift 
Tlie Cociety 

14 F '05 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR TOWN GOVERNMENT. 



It was an easy matter, we imagine, for the little handful of original settlers to talk 
over their affairs and agree on measures of public policy. They might have gathered 
in a body and selected a spot for their meeting house, located the earliest roads and 
apportioned themselves home lots and tillage lands. The simplest form of pure de- 
mocracy was adequate to all their needs ; but, as their number increased, some system 
of representative government was found necessary. 

The first public official appointed was the Clerk. As the Town Record begins with 
November, 1634, the Recorder or Clerk had been chosen before that date. The "lot- 
layers" also appear at this time, a Committee to which was referred the delicate task 
of assigning lands : Henry Short, John Perkins, Robert Mussey and John Gage. The 
grants, however, were determined in open meeting, and the function of the lot-layers 
was merely to determine locations, and fix "by metes and bounds" the lot apportioned. 

"The seven men" are first mentioned under the date Feb. 20, 1636/7, but they are 
alluded to in such an incidental way, that it would seem that they were already an es- 
tablished feature of tOAvn polity. This first board of government consisted of Mr. 
John Winthrop, Mr. Bradstreet, Mr. Denison, Goodman Perkins, Goodman Scott, 
John Gage and Mr. Wade, and they were chosen to order business for the next three 
months. Mr. Denison was chosen to keep the Town Book, enter the Town orders, and 
"set a copy of them up in ye meeting house." He was to keep a record of land grants 
as well, and a fee of sixpence for every entry was granted him. 

But the sturdy democracy seems to have been suspicious of detriment to its own 
power and dignity, accruing from the new officials, and forthwith they proceeded 
to hedge in their authority by ordering that "they shall have no power to grant any 
land in that which is commonly reputed and accounted the Cow Pasture, nor above twen- 
ty acres in any other place." The older board of lot-layers was made to feel its subser- 
vience to the popular will, by the addition of Mr. Appleton. Serg.' Howlett, John Perkins 
andThos. Scott to assist them in laying out the large grants made to "Mr. Dudley, Mr. 
Bradstreet and Mr. Saltingstall" before the H"' of May 1637. 

"The seven men" seeui to have become "the eleven men" in January 1637/8, but 
in 1639, "the seven men" reappear, and in Feb. 1640/1, their term of office is specified 
as six months. Mr. Hubbard, Capt. Denison, Jo: Whipple, Good. Giddings, Mark 
Symonds, John Perkins and Mr. William Payne were then chosen "for the Town's 
business for six months, provided that they give noe lands, nor meddle with dividing 
or stinting the Commons." Thus the lengthening of the term of service was balanced 
by curtailing their authority in regard to lands. In 1642, further "direction to sim- 

(3) 



4 THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR TOWN GOVERNMENT. 

plify the Town business" was desired, and a committee consisting of the two magis- 
trates, the elders, Mr. Giles Firman and George Giddings was appointed "to prepare 
for the next meeting of the freemen, what they shall think meet for yearly mainte- 
nance and for the way of raysing of it." 

In Feb. 1643/4, Robert Lord was chosen by the Town, "from this time forward 
to be present at every general meeting of the ToAvn, and of the freemen and of the 
seven men, and to record in a book what is committed to him by [ ] Moderator of 
every such meeting, and to tend in some convenient time before the end of the meet- 
ing to read over what is written, and he is to have [ ] third parts of the fines for 
not appearing at meetings, for this service." He was termed Recorder, but the du- 
ties of his office were very similar to those of the Town Clerk of later days. 

Glimpses are had here of the rigor with which the body of voters directed its 
own action. In 1648, in general Town meeting, it was ordered that all the inhabi- 
tants of the Town that shall be absent from tlie yearly meeting, or any other where- 
of they have lawful Avarning, shall forfeit a shilling. Robert Lord earned his two- 
thirds no doubt, for his duties included ringing the bell, calling the roll, and collecting 
the forfeit. Twelve freemen were soon called upon to pay a fine of 12'^ a piece for 
absence. 

In 1643, the tenure of office was extended to a year, and in 1650, the seven men 
were called by the familiar name of selectmen. In that year, the elective officials 
were Selectmen, two Constables, four Surveyors, and a Committee of Five " to make 
the elders' rates," or, in plainer language, to apportion the tax for the support of the 
ministry. Mr. Robert Payne had been appointed Committee or Treasurer for the 
Town in May, 1642, but it does not seem to have been an annual elective office. 

Road-surveyors were ai pointed in January, 1640/1, and the men appointed to 
that office were Mr. Hubbard, Mr. Symonds, Mr. Payne, and Robert Andrews, four 
of the most substantial citizens. The roads were hardly more than cart-paths, grass- 
grown, except in the wheel ruts. In some localities the unused portion of the public 
way was sufficiently broad to pay for its own maintenance. Thus, in 1640, "The 
haye upon Chebacco waye toward Labour-in-vain Creeke [now known as the Argilla 
road] was granted John Lee, this year only, the land itself being settled for a high- 
way, the Town intending that by like grant he shall enjoy it, he giving no cause to 
the contrary, it remaining in the Town's hand to give or not to give." 

It was also voted, that same year, that " the highway to Chebacco beneath Heart- 
break Hill forever be repayred by the benefit of the grass yearly growing upon the 
same;" and John Leigh (whose name is still associated with " Leigh's Meadow," as 
the older people among us still call the meadow land, owned by Mr. George Haskell on 
the south side of the Argilla road) was " to enjoy all profits of the highway, and all 
the common ground lying at the foot of Heart-break Hill, maintaining the highway 
from Rocky Hill [now owned by Mr. Moritz B. Philipp], to William Lampson's lot;" 
" and if there be any ground that may conveniently be planted, he hath liberty to 
plant it and secure it for himself, he always leaving a sufficient highway for carting 
and drift." 

Within the memory of a venerable lady still living. Green Lane, as Green Street 
was then called, was a grassy lane with a number of different ruts. Travel was chiefly 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR TOWN GOVERNMENT. 

on horseback, and the heavy farm teaming was done in two-wheeled carts or tum- 
brils, drawn by oxen. Four-wheeled vehicles were almost unknown. In many spots 
the roads were wet and muddy from the outflow of springs. The present Mineral 
Street, originally Dirty Lane, was a proverbially miry thoroughfare, from its near- 
ness to the swampy lands, that are still low and wet. The deep deposit of leaf mould, 
which had accumulated for ages, made it difficult to maintain a passable road in many 
quarters, no doubt. 

To keep these primitive highways in fair condition was no mean task in itself. 
But the highway surveyor had other duties. The lines of roadway were not defined 
with any accuracy. It was easy for landholders to push out their fences and claim 
portions of the common highway, and the surveyor was bound to detect such encroach- 
ments and determine their extent. Men of the finest quality were needed for this 
and other delicate tasks, and large powers were given them, as the regulations adopted 
in 1641 indicate. 

1. " Agreed that road-ways and general ways be done first." 

2. " That people work the whole day." 

3. " That defaulters shall forfeit the value of their wages double, both carts 
and workmen : carts to have reasonable warning." 

4. " If any man hath 24 hours warning, 't is sufficient, unless his excuse be 
allowed by one of the surveyors." 

5. " All youths above 14 years of age are to work in this common business. It 
is intended such as doe comonly use to work." 

6. " That the surveyors are to take notice themselves and information of others 
of encroachment of all ways, and also of annoyances etc — and to bring the same to 
the Town to be punished." 

7. " For every day's default, the forfeit is in Summer S** 4<i, in Winter 2^ G'^; for 
defect of a team each day is in Summer 13' 4<i, in Winter 10^" 

To execute these regulations required much discretion. That fifth article alone 
was enough to involve tlie unhappy surveyor in much difficulty, if he failed to recog- 
nize the dignity of some fourteen-year-old son of a sensitive family. 

To these responsible duties were added, " making up and keeping the wall about 
the Meeting House in repair " (1650), and " repairing the highway leading to Chebacco 
and to Castle Neck, that is, beyond that part of the way that John Leigh hath under- 
taken" (1650). They were instructed, in 1651, to "appoint a considerable company 
of men to fell the small wood upon the Eastern side of Jeffries Neck, to prepare it 
for sowing to hay seed;" and in 1653, Mr. Hodges, with one other surveyor calling 
John Perkins Sen. with them, were ordered to " call out 40 of the Inhabitants to goe 
to Jefi*ry's Neck with hoes, to hoe up weeds that spoil the Neck and sow some grass 
seeds." The surveyors have power also to call out all the Town for one day's work, 
both men and teams, " to the filling up of a wharf, and mending the street against it." 

Next to the question of roads and highways, their location, bounds and mainte- 
nance, was the great matter of the common lands, which were held by the house- 



b THE DEVELOPMEXT OF OUR TOWy GOVERSMEXT. 

holders in common, and used for pasturage, and supplies of fuel and timber. This 
was a relic of the ancient system of land-holding in Germany and England, and was 
reverted to naturally in the primitive colonial life from the necessities of the situa- 
tion. 

In November. 1634. it was agreed that " the length of Ipswitch should extend 
westward unto [ ] buryinge place, and Eastward unto a Cove of the River, unto the 
planting ground of John Pirkings the Elder.'" The cove here mentioned is that below 
the wharves, where East street touches the River ; John Perkins Sen. owned land on 
the opposite side of the street. Beyond these limit*, the land was held in common. 
It was further specified that -the Neck of land adjoining Mr. Robert Coles extend- 
ing unto the sea shall remayne for common use unto the Town forever." This may 
mean Manning's Neck or JeflFrey's. or even both. '-The Necke of land, whereuppon 
the Great Hill standeth. w'ch is known by the name of Castle Hill." was likewise re- 
served. This vote, however, was revoked when Castle Hill was granted Mr. John 
Winthrop Jan. 13, 1637/{< •• provided that he lives in the Town, and that the Town 
may have what they shall need for the building of a fort." 

To define this common land, and separate it effectually from the Town proper, a 
fence was necessary, and the Town voted in January. 1637/S " that a general fence 
shall be made from the end of the town to Egypt River, with a sufficient fence, and 
also from the East end of the Town in The way to Jeffries Neck, from the fence of 
John Perkins to the end of a creek in the marsh near land of Wt Foster, to be done 
at the charge of all those that have land ■within the said compass, and by them to be 
maintained.'' On the south side of the River, this fence was near Heart-break Hill, 
(l<?5<:i) and it extended across to the present County street, near the line of the brook, 
as seems probable from ancient deeds. Liberty was granted to fell trees for this 
pur{>ose. and it may have been built easily of logs, piled zigzag fashion, as pasture 
fences are still built in wooded regions. As early as 1639, a special Committee was 
chosen to view this fence, the original " Fence Viewers," who are still elected at the 
March town meeting. Their fimction was of the highest importance. 

The principal use of these common lands was for pasturage. Johnson, in his 
Wonder Working Providence, observes that the cattle had become so numerous in 
1646 that many hundred quarters of beef were sent to Boston from Ipswich every 
autumn. Swine and sheep had also increased rapidly. Every day these great herds 
were driven out into the commons to find rich and abundant forage in the woods, and 
along the sedgy banks of ponds and streams. The common fence was necessary to 
keep them from straying back into the cultivated fields. Any breach in it might in- 
volve great loss in growing crops, at a time when a scarce harvest was a very serious 
menace to the health and comfort of the little community. No wonder they chose 
men of the greatest sobriety and careftilness for the responsible duty of vlewin*'- 
and having charge of this rude fence. 

Their duties became even more onerous we may presume after the year 1653 when, 
in accordance with the order from the General Court, the town ordered '-that all per- 
sons, concerned and living in Ipswich shall, before April 20^ have their fences in a 
good state (except farms of one hundred acres) made of pales well nailed or pinned, 
or of five rails well fitted, or of stone wall three and a half feet high at least, or with 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF OCR TOWN GOVERNMENT. 7 

a ditch three or four feet wide, with a substantial bank, having two rails or a hedge, 
or some equivalent, on penalty of 5s. a rod and 2s a week for each rod while neglected." 

These herds of large and small cattle needed to be watched lest they should stray 
away into the wilderness, or be assailed by wolves. For this service, the cowherd and 
shepherd and swine-herd were essential, and thus we find the town officials of England 
in the Middle Ages again in vogue in our midst. Prof. Edward A. Freeman in his In- 
troduction to American Institutional History ' aptly observes : 

"Tiie most notable thing of all, yet surely the most natural thing of all, is that the 
New England settlers of the 17th century, largely reproduced English institutions in 
an older shape than they bore in the England of the seventeenth century. They gave 
a new life to many things, which in their older home had well nigh died out. The 
necessary smallness of scale in the original settlements was the root of the whole 
matter. It, so to speak, drove them back for several centuries. It caused them to 
reproduce in not a few points, not the England of their own day, but the England of 
a far earlier time. It led them to reproduce in mauj' points the state of things in old 
Greece and in medieval Switzerland." 

In the earliest contract with the cowherds mentioned in our Town Records, un- 
der date of Sept. 1639, agreement was made with Wra. Fellows to keep the herd of 
cows on the south side the river, from the 20th of April to the 20th of November. He 
was bound "to drive them out to feed before the sunne be half an hour high, and not 
to bring them home before half an hour before sunset." He was to drive the cattle, 
"coming over the River, back over the River at night," and to take charge of them "as 
soon as they are put over the River in the morning." He was liable for all danger 
coming to the cattle, either by leaving them at night or during the day, and was to re- 
ceive 12 pence for each cow before he took them, a shilling and sixpence fourteen days 
after midsummer and the rest at the end of the term in corn or money, a total of £15. 

The cows on the north side of the river were herded by themselves in 1640, and 
Wm. Fellows, Mark Quilter and Symon Tompson were the cow-keepers, receiving them 
at Mr. Norton's gate. In 1643, the cows were gathered, "over against Mr. Robert 
Payne's house," i. e. at the corner of High and Market streets. The cowherds were 
instructed in 1647, at "the first opportunity to burn the woods, and to make a Bridge 
over the River to Wilderness Hill,"- and all herdsmen were ordered "to winde a 
horn before their going out." Theherds were driven out, partly "over Sanders", i. e. 
over Sanders's brook on the Topsfleld road, and partly up High street. The oAvners 
of cows were bound to provide men to relieve the coAvherds every other Sabbath 
day. The herdsmen warned two on Friday night for each Sabbath day and refusal 
to do the service required was punishable with a fine of three sliillings for each in- 
stance of neglect. In 1649, Daniel Riuge was ordered to " attend on the green before 
Mr. Rogers house " (the South Green) and the cowherd was obliged to keep the herd 
one Sunday in four. 

The whole time and attention of the cowherd and his assistants were regulated 

1 Johns Hopkins University Studies, 1. 

- This was the name of a hill near the present line of division between Essex and Ipswich, in 
the vicinity of Haffield's Bridge. The name is still remembered in connection with the range of 
hills on the east side of the Candlewood road, near Sagamore Hill. 



8 THE DEVELOPMENT OF ODR TOWN GOVERNMENT. 

by law. By order of the General Court in 1642, the " prudentiall " men of each town 
were instructed " to take care of such [children] as are sett to keep cattle be set to 
some other employment withal, as spinning upon the rock,' knitting, weaving tape, 
etc., and that boys and girls be not suffered to converse together so as may occasion 
any wanton, dishonest or immodest behaviour." Wm. Synionds needed a special 
permit in 1653, before he could cut two parcels of meadow in the common, near 
Capt. Turner's Hill, while he kept the herd. 

" No great cattle, except cows and working cattle in the night," were allowed on 
the cow commons and any mares, horses or oxen found in the commons two hours 
after sunrising, might be driven to the Pound by the finder (1639). 

The cowherd's recompense varied from year to year, but was always a modest 
return for his service. Hauiel Hosworth contracted in 1661 to keep the herd on the 
north side of the river for thirteen shillings a week, " a peck of corn a head at their 
going out, one pound of butter or half peck of wheat in June, and the rest of his 
pay at the end of his time, whereof half to be paid in wheat or malt; the pay to be 
brought to his house within six days after demanded or else to forfeit 6d a head 
more." " Agreed with Henry Osborn to join Bosworth to keep the cows on the same 
terms. One of them to take the cows in Scott's lane and to blow a horn at the meet- 
ing-house green in the morning." In 1670, the town voted that every cow of the 
herd should wear a bell and the early morning air was full of rural music, with low- 
ing cows, tinkling bells and the sounding blasts upon the cowherd's horn. 

Swine caused more trouble than the great cattle. Certain sections of the com- 
mon lands were set apart for their special use. In 1639 it w^as agreed with Robert 
Wallis and Thomas Manning to keep four score hogs upon Plum Island from the 10th 
of April " until harvest be got in ;" " and that one of them shall be constantly there 
night and day, all the tyme, and they are to carry them and bring them home, pro- 
vided those that own them send each of them a man to help catch them, and they are 
to make troughs to water them in, for all which paynes and care they are to have 12 
penc a hogg, at the entrance, 2 shillings a hogg at mid summer, for so many as are 
then living, and 2 shillings a hogg for each hogg they shall deliver at the end of har- 
vest." A herd of swine is alluded to in 1640 on Castle Neck and on Hogg Island. 

But many of the inhabitants preferred to keep their hogs nearer home, and as the 
idea of confining them in pens about the premises had not been conceived, they were 
driven out into the commons to graze. A good two miles was to separate them from 
the town, and for any big pigs found within that limit the owners were liable to pay 
a forfeit of five shillings apiece ; but it was "provided that such small pigs as are 
pigged after P' of February shall have liberty to be about the Town, not being liable 
to pay any damage in house lots or gardens, but if any hurt be done in house lots and 
gardens, the owner of the fence through which they came shall pay the damage. 
The pigges have liberty until 16 August next." 

" The pigges" used their liberty injudiciously, and brought upon themselves the 
severer edict of 1645, that no hogs should run in the streets or commons without 

1 Mrs. Alice Morse Earle in " Home Life in Colonial Days," page 178, says that the hand distaff, 
upon which thread was spun, was called a " rock." 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR TOWN GOVERNMENT. » 

being yoked and ringed. Finally the town undertook the care of the hogs on the 
same basis as the cows. Contract was made with Wm. Clark in 1652 to keep a herd of 
hogs from the 26th of April to the last of October, " to drive them out to their feed 
in the Commons, being all ringed, between seven or eight of the clock, to have 12 
shillings per week, six pence for every head." Hogs were to be brought to Mr. 
Payne's corner, and the owners were ordered " to find for every six hogs one to help 
keep them till they be wanted." 

The next year, Abraham Warr and the son of Goodman Symmes were the swine 
herds, and they were expected to take them at the Meeting House Green and drive one 
herd through the street by Mr. P . . . (probably High St.) , the other out at Scott's Lane 
(the present Washington St.). Robert Whitman also was commissioned to keep a herd 
of hogs on the north side, " he and his boy to keep out with them until 4 o'clock in the 
afternoon, to drive them out presently after the cows, — his boy has liberty to leave 
the hogs at one o'clock." This swine-herd, Whitman, is mentioned in the record of 
1644 as the keeper of the goat herd on the north side. 

Sheep were kept on Jeffries Neck, and liberty was given sheep owners in 1656 to 
"fence in about half an acre of ground there for a year to keep their sheep in nights," 
and it was also ordered that " one able person out of every family shall work one day 
in May or June as they shall be ordered, to help clear the commons for the better 
keeping of sheep, upon a day's warning." Robert Roberts was the shepherd on Jef- 
fries Neck in 1661 from April 8th till the end of October and his wages were £13. 
Robert Whitman was paid 10 shillings a week to keep another flock on the north side 
of the river. In 1662 there were three shepherds and the commons on the south side 
were so burdened that one hundred sheep were transferred to the north side. By 
vote of 1702 the shepherds were required to have cottages adjoining the sheep-walks 
so as to be near their flocks. Felt says that it was the custom for each shepherd to 
put his flock in the pen every Friday afternoon, that the owners might take what they 
Tieeded for family use and for market. 

Another public functionary of no small dignity was the Town Crier, whose task 
it was to proclaim with loud voice any announcement of public importance. The first 
allusion to this ofticial occurs in the year 1640, when it was voted that " Ralph Varn- 
ham, for ringing the bell, keeping clean the meeting house and publishing such things 
as the toAvn shall appoint sliall have for his paynes, of every man for the year past 
whose estate is rated under 100£ 6<i, from 100 to 500£ W^, and upward 18^; the like 
for this year to come." Henceforward the Town Crier was elected annually. 

Commendable care for the neat and tidy appearance of the public thoroughfares 
was manifested in the vote of March, 1645, that Robert Lord "keep the streets clear of 
wood and timber under penalty 12'^ the load and as proportionable for more or less for 
lying or standing above three days in any of the streets or lanes," and in 1652 the town 

" Ordered, that all dung-hills lying in the streets shall be removed by the 20"i of 
October and from that time noe dung hills to be layed in the streets under the penalty 
of 10^" A stringent prohibition of felling any shade trees in the streets or high- 
ways, under penalty of 20' for every oflence was enacted in 166C. 

A Committee to provide a building for the town school was appointed in Jan., 
165 1/2 and studious effort to secure the best educational advantages is manifest in 



10 THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR TOWN GOVERNMENT. 

the annual provision for the public school and frequent contributions to Harvard 
College. 

As various industries assumed prominence, special inspectors were appointed, gen- 
erally in compliance with some edict of the Genei'al Court. Thus, John Knowlton 
was appointed to " search and seale leather" in 1652, that no unmarketable leather 
might be sold by any tanner of hides, and the sealer is a regular official henceforth. 
The Common Packer, whose function was to secure the proper packing of fish or 
meat In barrels, I presume, came into existence in 1658. "Pounders," for the care of 
stray animals shut up in the public pounds and the collection of flues, were chosen 
in 1674, but some provision must have been made long before this as the pounds had 
been built some years. Tithing men were chosen flrst in 1677, and in 1680 there is 
mention of a Clerk of the Market Place. " Gagers of casque" were chosen in 1726. 
The poor had been provided for always at the public expense, but the first men- 
tion of an overseer of the poor, of which I am aware, occurs in 1734. Capt. Thos. 
Wade was then elected to that office. Col. John Choate was chosen surveyor of flax 
and hemp in 1735. 

By the middle of the century, deer began to be scarce in the forests, and to pre- 
vent their extinction and to regulate their destruction for food " deer reeves " were 
established and the flrst election was made in 1743. They were elected annually for 
many years, but as the office had been discontinued in 1797, it is probable that the 
deer had wholly disappeared. 

Thus the government of the town was systematized gradually. Every industry 
seems to have been supervised by some public functionary and the climax of petty 
officialdom might well have been reached in 1797, when the list of officers chosen at 
the Town meeting included Selectmen, Overseers, Town Clerk and Treasurer, Tithing- 
men. Road Surveyors, Fish Committee, Clerk of the Market, Fence Viewers, Hay- 
wards, Surveyors of Lumber, Cullers of Fish, Sealers of Leather, Hog-reeves, 
Gangers of Cask, Sealers of Weights, Measurers of Grain, Corders of Wood, Fire- 
wards, Packer of Pork, and Cullers of Brick. Surely the thirst for public office, 
which afflicts every American citizen, was easily gratifled. The Ipswich of a cen- 
tury ago must have been a paradise for politicians. 



COMMON LANDS AND COMMONAGE. 

Ownership of a house and land within the town bounds carried with it the right 
of pasturage, in the wide domain beyond the Common Fence. This right was definitely 
recognized, and could be bought or sold. But the privilege of cutting wood in the 
dense forests, which were included in these commons, was retained by the town. 

Singularly enough the town claimed proprietorship even in the trees standing on 
the houselots granted to individuals, and graciously granted permission in 1634, to the 
grantees to have such trees on "paying a valuable consideration for the fallinge of 
them." In 1635, the Town ordered that "no man shall sell, lend, give or convey, or 
cause to be conveyed or sent out of the Town, any timber sawn or unsawn, riven or un- 
riven upon pain of forfeiting their sum or price." The "consent of the Town" was 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR TOWN GOVERNMENT. 11 

necessary before any timber or clapboards could be carried beyond lier bounds. 
The enactment of 1639 was even more strinijent. 

'•Noe man shall fell any timber upon the Common to make sale of, neither Shall 
any man fell any tree for fuel -without leave from the Constable under penalty of x' 
for such tree felled for timber or firewood, and if any man shall fell tim])er for their 
own use, and remove it not from oft' the Commons, or cleave it or saw it not within 
one year after tiie felling of it, it shall be lawful for any man to make use of the same." 
According to the vote of 1643, a special license from the Town or Seven Men was 
necessary before a white oak could be felled, and Mr. Gardiner was to give a written 
certificate that such license is fit. The felling of timber on "Jeflry's Neck, Castle Neck, 
Hog Island," etc., was prohibited in 1650, but some clearings had been accomplished, as 
provision was made in 1(!54 for .JeflVies Neck and other common lands to be "broken 
up and planted for English." Special privilege was granted the inhabitants of the 
Town in KiS'i, to fell for firewood the swamp between Tin\ber Hill and Bush Hill, 
"provided no man may take above 2 rods in breadth, and to fell all and clear as they 
go across the Swamp." By the order of 1665, oaks or walnuts might not be cut with- 
out permission, but the m:iltsters, Capt. Appleton, Cornet Whipple and Thomas L 

were granted liberty to fell some walnuts for their kilns in 1667, and permit was given 
the tanners in 1671 "to fell for there supply for Barke for there tanning, being as 
good Husbands for the Town as they can." 

Neither did the right of commonage involve any privilege of cultivating any por- 
tion of the commons. In 1659, twelve citizens petitioned for the privilege of plant- 
ing two acres apiece in Jettries Neck, and they agreed to sow four bushels of hay- 
seed per acre with the last crop. Their petition was allowed and seven others were 
granted like privilege "if the land holds out." 

This use of the common land sprang into instant favor. The next year, fifteen 
men agreed to cultivate two acres apiece on Jeflries Neck for four years, and with 
the fifth crop plant four bushels of hayseed, and leave it to the use of the Town for 
Common feed as before. Twenty-four men agree to clear, and then cultivate Bush 
Hill and Turkey Hill for six years, on the same terms, with the added proviso, that they 
"shall keep up fence one year after to let the grass get ahead." Redroot Hill was 
granted to eight for six years, Scott's Hill to nine, a parcel of land at Cowkeepers 
Rock to six, land between Haffield's and Wilderness Hill to Giddiugs and John An- 
drews. 

By the time the first of these tillage rights had expired, the idea of permanent in- 
dividual ownership had gained general acceptance. So, in 1664, the town voted that 
Plum Island, Hogg Island and Castle Neck be divided to such as have the right to 
commonage according to law, according to the proportion of four, six and eight. 
Those who did not pay more than 6« S^ in personal & property tax in a single country 
rate were to form the first division. All that did not exceed 16^ were to form the 
second. All that exceeded 16« "together with our Magistrates, Elders, Mr. John 
Rogers, and Mr. Thomas Andrews" (the school-master), were to constitute the high- 
est. 

The Committee to which the task was assigned, reported in April, 1665, that there 
were 203 inhabitants who had right of commonage, that 28 were entitled to a double 



12 THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR TOWN GOVERNMENT, 

share, 70 were entitled to a share and a half, 105 were entitled to a single share, 226 
single shares in all. They reported as well that there -vvere 800 acres of marsh and 
upland "beside beaches and gall'd hills," and that each single share would contain 
three acres. These shares were laid out, first a double share, next two one and a half 
shares, then three single shares beginning at the end of Plum Island towards Rowley, 
then on Castle Neck, including "the Pines" and Wigwam Hill. The commoners then took 
their shares by lot, and Cornet Whipple, Robert Lord, John Leighton and Thomas 
Lovel went with them to show where their land was. A full list of the shiireholders 
was recorded, and this large section of the public domain was withdrawn from com- 
monage forever. Large tracts of common land remained however and the right of 
commonage was granted to five men in lOfiS and to Thomas Giddings in 1674 by vote. 
Fishermen were allowed to cut wood from the commons for needed building and 
fuel, and each boat's crew had leave to feed one cow on the Common (1670). Yet 
further privilege was granted them in 1696, Avhen Mr. John Appleton, Mr. Andrew 
Dyamond, and Mr. Francis Waiuwright, were "appointed and empowered a Committee 
to lay out the several lots that shall be desired by persons to carry on the fishing de- 
sign at Jeffery's Neck, for flake-room and erecting stage or stages, the said lotts to 
run up and down the hill fronting to ye River on ye Southside." Traces of these lots 
are visible in the rows of stones, on the slope of Great Neck near Little Neck. Less 
favor had been shown other use of common lands in 1682, when the question, 
" whether any commoner or inhabitant may take up and inclose land upon tlie com- 
mon or highways, as he or they shall see good, for Tobacco yai'ds and other uses," 
was decided in the negative. 

Finally, in the beginning of the next century. 1709, it was voted, that all the 
common lands be divided into " eight parts," except what is hereafter to accommo- 
date ancient and new commoners. These votes, we have mentioned, were all votes 
of the town in regularly warned town meetings. Provision was made for the carry- 
ing out of the several votes by the selectmen, the town constable and other public 
officials. It might appear that the town in its corporate capacity had supreme control. 

Nevertheless, from the very beginning, the commoners, or those who had the 
right of commonage, met in commoners' meeting, had their own records, and legis- 
lated with reference to all the duties and privileges of commoners. In fact, it has 
been affirmed by a careful student, that in the town of Manchester, land grants made 
by the town were really made by the commoners acting in their capacit3' of com- 
moners.' In our own town, the line of distinction seems to have been drawn more 
definitely, yet the commoners claimed and exercised very important rights. As early 
as 1644, the Town Records allude to a gift by the commoners : " a plot of the Cow 
Common on the north side of the River containing by estimation 3244 acres, was pre- 
sented unto the freemen of the town. The freemen doth give and grant unto the In- 
habitants of the Town with themselves, their heirs and successors forever [viz. all 
such as have right to commonage] all the aforesaid Common to be improved as afore- 
said." 

In 1702, they divided the common lands into large sheep pastures. " The Great 

'State Doc. " Inhabitants of the Town of Manchester versus Andrew C. Slater," p. 18. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR TOWN GOVERNMENT. 13 

Neck by some cal'^ Jefferies Neck, now named ye Ram Pasture being part of y* 
sheep walks on y« northerly side of the River," was to be included in the "sheep 
walk," on the north side of the River; "and on y« South syde of ye Mill River, ex- 
cluding y bounds of y<' flock cal"i Whipple's (Job's Hill) flock, extending from 
Isaack Foster's in Chebacco to James Gittings his house; and from thenc to y^ vally 
betwixt Long Hill and Wilderness Hill, and thenc in y*' valley betwext Red Root Hill' 
and Sagamore Hill and thence on a line to Mile Brook ag*' .... land." 

These " stinted sheep walks" having been defined for each flock, the commoners 
voted that there should be nine flocks : 

1st iiye Ram Pasture flock" 

2. "y« Bush Hill " " 

3. "Turners Hill " " 

4. "Turiiey Hill " " 

5. "Bull Brook " " 

6. "ye Town flock, alias Windmill Hill flock as far as the Bridge below Wm 

Durges & as sd Rivilet runs by Henry Gold's to Choates land." 

7. "Red Root Hill or Brags & Kinsmans flock." 

8. "ye Farmers flock next Weuham called Whipples flock, alias Jobs Hill flock.' 

9. the Chebacco flock. 
It was further ordered 

' ' Every sheppard shall keep his flock in the limits prescribed to the particular flock 
yt he takes charge and care of, & not suffer them to stragle into other Flocks limits, 
on penalty of paying as a flne of two shillings and six for each time he is convicted of 

such his neglect : " Each shepherd was to have a cottage near his flock, and a 

fold in which he was to put them at sunset, " and put them out at sun half an hour 
high in y« morne day by day." Mr. Samuel Appleton & others were to have a flock 
in the Thick Woods and Pigeon Hill. 

In 1707, a division of wood, timber, etc., at Chebacco ponds. Knights fyrm, etc., 
was made into four parts. In 1709, the final division of the common lands was made 
by a Committee of the Commoners and a Committee of the Town. The town voted 
on January 11, 1708/9, " That wood-land at Chebacco Ponds, that thatch banks and 
land above Baker's Pond, and Samuel Perley's, Jefi'rey's Neck and Paine's Hill, be 
divided into three-fifths and two-fifths shares." 

Voted, "That any commoner who has one or more rights and has built one or 
more new houses in the place of old ones, shall have only the right for a new house, 
which belonged to the old one." 

The list of old and new commoners, and old and new Jeffries Neck commoners 
was agreed on, and then the common lands were divided into eight parts. 

1. " Convenient for Chebacco, about Chebacco pond," about 873 acres. 

2. " Convenient for the inhabitants of the Hamblett," about 470 acres. 

3. " From Chebacco Pond running northwesterly, taking all the Comon lands 
between the two lines to Cowkeepers Rock, and all that piece of Common up to the 
highway by Tanner Norton's, and by the fence'to the Gate by Appleton's Mill," about 
1181 acres. 

'Now called Red-wood Hill. 



14 THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR TOWN GOVERNMENT. 

4. " Tliick Woods & Pigeon Flill." 

5. " Beginning at Kimball's corner . . . Warner's or Day's gate ..." about 
946 acres. 

6. "From Goodhue's corner to Day's corner, by the River, etc," about 578 
acres (5 and 6 including Bush Hill and Turner's Hill). 

7. Turkey Hill and land about Egypt river, 954 acres. 

8. Toward Rowley line, 850 acres. 



The Committee proceeded to assign the commoners to tiieir proper eighths, and 
each man's right was decided as accurately as possible. 

Some title to Castle Neck still remained in the possession of the commoners, as 
appears from the vote of 21 Mar., 172C>, instructing the I'reasurer to execute a deed 
of sale or conveyance of their whole right and title in the " wood tliat now is, or that 
shall hereafter be standing, lying, or growing on any part of Castle Neck so called 
beyond Wigwam Hill," to Symonds Epes, Esq., for ten pounds sterling. The com- 
moners relinquished their " right att Rocky Hill unto James Fuller, Ebenezer ITuUer and 
Jabez Treadwell, they paying the sum of sixty pounds old Tenor, for ye Com° use." 
Aug., 1745. (This is the hill now occupied by Mr Moritz B. Fhilipp.) 

Unappropriated thatch banks Avere let each year to the highest bidder, only com- 
moners having the right to bid. Rights and privileges in the "Gravill Pit and Clay pitts " 
were reserved by the commoners for their use and profit. The beaches belonged to the 
Commoners, and in 1757 they voted th.it " Capt. Jonathan Fellows ot Cape Ann, have 
the liberty of all the sands lying in the Town of Ipswich for tlie space of one year for 
the sum of 2£ 13s. 4d." 

Their authority reached also to the flats and the clams that dwelt therein, and in 
1763 the vexed question of tlie control of the sht-U fishery led to the first regulation 
of whicli I am aware. The commoners voted, on July 4th, " That the Committee take 
care of all ye flats & clams therein, belonging to ye proprietors of ye Common lands 
in Ipswich & that no person or persons be allowed to digg any more clams than for 
their own use, & to be expended in ye Town, & that all owners of fishing vessels 
and Boats shall apply to one of sd. Committee for liberty to dijig clams for their vessels 
use fare by fare, & no owners of vessel or vessels, boat or boats, shall digg more 
clams than shall be allowed by one or more of sd Committee on penaltv of prosecution ; 
said Committee are to allow one Bar' of clams to each man of every vessel going to the 
Banks every fare, & so also in propr. to boats fishing in the Bay, and a majority of 
said Com. are impowered to prosecute all oflenders." 

The income accruing from these sales and leases was expended for various pub- 
lic uses. In 1771, a hundred pounds was voted -'for the use of building a work house 
in the Town of Ipswich," provided the town build within eighteen months. In 1772, 
£20 was voted to Wm. Dodge and others " to erect sutable land marks for the benefit 
of vessels outward and inward bound," and Gs. to Anthony Loney foi ringing the bell 
from Feb. 1771 to Feb. 1772. In 1773, £50 was voted for readingand writinji schools, 
provided the town raise £40. Finally, in 1788, the majority of the commoners voted, 
though vigorous opposition was made by the minority, to resign all their interests in 



thp: development of our town government. 15 

lands, etc., to the town toward the payment of the heavy town debt incurred during 
the Revolution. Mr. Felt estimated that this grant was worth about £600. 

Thus the body of commoners ceased to be, but we still are reminded of tlie old 
commonage system by the " Common Fields," so called, in the neighborliood of the 
Poor Farm, and our South Common and the open lands in the centre of our town. 



BY-LAWS. 

I. 

The objects of the Society are the gathering and recording of knowledge of the 
history of Ipswich and of individuals and families connected with said Ipswich; the 
collection and preservation of printed and written manuscripts, pamphlets, and other 
matters of historic interest, and the collection of articles of historical and antiquarian 
interest, and the preservation of and furnishing in colonial style of one of the an- 
cient dwelling houses of said Ipswich. 

II. 

The annual meeting for the election of officers shall be held on the first Monday 
in December of each year, and meetings for literary and social purposes shall be held 
on the first Monday of February, May and October. All meetings shall be called by 
the directors by a warrant under their hands, addressed to the clerk of the corpora- 
tion, directing him to give notice of such meeting by sending a notice to each mem- 
ber of the corporation by mail four days at least before the time of holding such 
meeting ; which notice shall contain the substance of the matter named in said war- 
rant to be acted upon at such meeting. Said warrant shall state all the business to be 
acted upon at such meeting, and no other business shall be transacted at such meeting. 

Special meetings may be called by the directors in the same manner as other 

meetings. 

III. 

Any member of the corporation may present the name of any person for mem- 
bership to the clerk, Avho shall announce at the next meeting of the corporation there- 
after the name of said person so proposed for membership; and said corporation 
may vote to admit said person to membership of the corporation at the next meeting 
of said corporation held after the clerk has announced the name for membership. 

IV. 

Every member shall pay an annual fee of two dollars which shall be due on the 
first day of December, and failure to pay this fee for two years shall forfeit mem- 
bership unless said corporation otherwise direct. 

V. 

The officers of the corporation shall be a president, two vice presidents, treas- 
urer, clerk, corresponding secretary, librarian and three directors. 

These officers shall be elected by ballot at the annual meeting and their term of 
office shall be for one year from the date of that meeting and until their successors 
(16) 



BT-LAWS. 17 

arc chosen. Vacancies in any of tliese offices sliall be filled by the director."? for the 
unexpired term. 

VI. 
The directors shall determine the use to be made of the income and funds of the 
Society ; sliall endeavor to promote the special objects of the Society in such ways as 
may seem most appropriate, shall appoint such committees as may seem expedient 
and shall have charge an-d custody of all property and collections of the Society. 

VII. 
These By-Laws m ay be amended at any regular meeting ou recommendation of 
the directors by vote of two-thirds of the members present, provided that due notice 
has been given of the proposed change at a previous meeting. 



ANNUAL MEETING. 



The second annual meeting of the Ipswich Historical Society was held on Mon- 
d*y, December 4, 1899, at the house. 

The following officers were elected by ballot : 

President — T. Frank Waters. 

Vice Presidents — John B. Brown, John Heard. 

Clerk — John W. Goodhue. 

Treasurer — Joseph I. Horton. 

Directors — Charles A. Sayward, John H. Cogswell, Everard II. Martin. 

Corresponding Secretary — John H. Cogswell. 

Librarian — John J. Sullivan. 

The Reports of the President and the Treasurer were read and accepted. 

(18) 



ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 4, 1899, 
Read by the President, Rev. T. F. Waters, at the Annual Meeting. 



The annals of the past twelve months are pleasant reading, Ave may presume, for 
the members of the Society and its friends. When we met in this House at our last 
annual meeting, the work on the four great rooms had been substantially completed, 
the furnishings of the lower floor were fairly well in place, and a beginning had been 
made in fitting up the west chamber as a typical sleeping room of the olden time. 
The rear portion of the building was as yet untouched. 

Work was continued vigorously during the month of December, and by the New 
Year a very commodious tenement had been evolved from the unprepossessing leanto. 
New wood work and plaster, paint and paper were the rule here, and when the low- 
studded rooms on the first floor, and the quaint little sleeping chambers under the 
great slant roof had been completed, the question of a tenant was easily settled. 
Some doubt had been expressed whether a desirable tenant or family could be found. . 
But the idea of dwelling in the venerable old house proved alluring to a number of 
worthy folk, and long before the rooms were ready for occupancy, an ideal occupant 
was planning to take up her abode. Miss Alice A. Gray, a lineal descendant of the Ips- 
wich Howards of two centuries ago, after twenty-three years of service at the Fine 
Art Museum in Boston, felt the charm of our ancient mansion so powerfully that she 
relinquished in a large measure her work in the Fine Art Museum and became the cus- 
todian of our house. 

She brought to her new position not only the devotion of an antiquary, the ski!! 
in arrangement learned by long experience, and exquisite taste, but a great store of 
ancient furniture as well, and many decorative adornments. Under her deft hand, 
tlie two chambers were made AvonderfuUy attractive and the whole house was put in 
admirable order. In all this, her friend and companion Miss Julia Gutberlett was a 
zealous co-worker, and an invaluable helper, and she has proved a very gracious host- 
ess to our visitors during Miss Gray's absence. 

About the first of .July, the House was opened to the public. Hours were fixed, 
from two to half-past six every afternoon except Sunday, and it was decided to charge 
an admission fee of fifteen cents for all visitors except members of the Society and 
their households. An influx of visitors began at once and continued well through the 
month of September. 1148 names were recorded in our Visitors' Book, but a consid- 
erable proportion especially of our towns-people failed to register. In round numbers, 
it is a fair estimate that 1600 people have been through the rooms. 

(19; 



20 



ANNUAL HEPOKT FOR THE YEAR. 



Tliey represented twenty-four States besides Massachusetts, and foreign lauds. 
I append a list of States represented, and the number of visitors accredited to each : 

3 
5 
3 
9 
2 
2 
6 
4 
4 
14 
12 
9 



216 
918 



California 


4 


Colorado 


Minnesota 


c, 


Missouri 


Iowa .... 


1 


Wisconsin . 


Illinois .... 


12 


Michigan 


Ohio .... 


5 


Texas . 


Florida .... 


2 


Louisiana 


Virginia .... 


5 


Maryland . 


Georgia .... 


1 


Dist. Columbia 


Pennsylvania . 


. 38 


Rhode Island 


New YorJv 


42 


New Jersey 


New Hampshire 


L'l 


Maine . 


Vermont 


('. 


Connecticut 


Massachusetts . • 






Sandwich Islands . 


2 


Cuba . 


Nova Scotia . 


2 


New Brunswick 


Spain .... 


1 


Scotland 


England .... 


o 





1 
1 

14 



1148 

All have been surprised and delighted. The most expert and critical liave ex- 
pressed the most enthusiastic appreciation of tlie Honse, and the manner of its resto- 
ration. Architects have come to photograpli and take exact measurements and studj^ 
details, and liave pronounced it the most massive and wonderful specimen of seven- 
teenth century architecture they have seen. 

Lovers of old houses, familiar with the ijest of the earliest period in many old 
towns, liave acknowledged without reserve that this was the most unique and satisfy- 
ing. A number of cultured English gentlemen have told us that they knew of no old 
dwelling in England that is so striking, and characteristic of tlie olden times. Another 
very gratifying recognition of its value has recently come to our knowledge. In connec- 
tion with the observance of the 250th anniversary of the Second church in Boston, an 
antique exhibition was given in Copley Hall. Its principal feature was an old Boston 
street, with exact reproductions on a small scale of Benjamin Franklin's house, the old 
church and other buildings. Two ladies had charge of the construction of the Frank- 
lin house under the direction of an expert architect. They applied to a gentleman, 
deemed capable to advise, and he suggested that they sliould see this House. An ap- 
peal to a second friend for suggestions, elicited the opinion that the old house in Ips- 
wich was the best guide. Inquiring for helpful literature at the Boston Public Library, 
they were told that they must go to Ipswich, if they would lind the best illustration 
of ancient architecture. Nothing was left but to make their pilgrimage. They spent 
a whole day under our roof, and returned, bearing a few articles loaned for their e.v- 



ANNUAL KKPOKT FOR THE YKAK. 21 

hibit. and feeling better prepared for their responsible task. The borrowed wooden 
latch and string and candle-mould attracted great attention. 

By invitation of Miss Gray, Mr. W. H. Downs of the Boston Transcript spent a 
Satnrday half holiday as her guest. He was greatly interested especially with our Li- 
brary, which is of far greater value tlian is commonly supposed, and evinced his aj)- 
l)reciation ))y writing a very admirable summary of the contents, and the history of 
the House, for the Boston Transcript, which has had wide notice and has brought the 
House very eftectively to the attention of a large cii'cle of readers. 

While this steady current of visitors from abroad has been flowing through these 
rooms, very few of our towns-people have been drawn hither. Occasionally when a 
guest is being entertained, a visit is made here as a means of diversion, but our citi- 
zens come rarely, and many members have never availed themselves of their privilege. 
This is a matter of profound regret. The Society can attain its rightful place and ac- 
complish its best work only as it has the intelligent and sympathetic support and co- 
operation of the community. We rely upon our citizens to furnish funds, and addi- 
tions, by loan or gift, to our collections. Our House is so well furnished already that, 
many think our needs are all supplied. We need many things, particularly an eight- 
day clock, chairs of ancient pattern, a court-cupboard, old china and pewter, wearing 
apparel, books, manuscripts, and Indian implements of every kind. A visit to tiie 
House may often result in very material help. 

More than all else, we solicit a large active membership. We exact no conditions 
of membership, and impose no duties bej'ond the payment of two dollars annually. 
We give a copy of our regular publications and the free use of the House. Any per- 
son is eligible, and names may be sent to any member or to the clerk or president. 
Any name will be acted upon at the first business meeting after the name has been for- 
mally proposed. We should have a membership of several hundred in our own town. 
The annual revenue fi'om such a constituency would enable us to pay our mortgage 
in a few years, and set aside a goodly sum annually for the publication of original 
material, and valuable old records. During the year, 5(! ncAv members have been 
elected, bringing the total active membership to 138. 

A goodly number of additions to our cabinet collections and general furnishings 
has been made. Mr. I). F. Appleton has contributed a line copy of the old Puritan 
family Bible of the edition known as the " Breeches Bible," published in London in 
1615. Mr. J. B. Brown has deposited Avith us a notable file of ancient deeds of the 
Argilla farm. Miss H. Augusta Dodge of Hamilton has given the rosewood writing 
desk, presented to her sister, Gail Hamilton, by her pupils in the Ipswich Female Sem- 
inary. It still contains her diploma and letters of rare interest. Miss Ellen A. Stone 
has sent a fine collection of antiques from her marvellous old home in East Lexington. 
A braided mat of noble proportions is the handiwork of Mrs. Elizabeth M. P.rown. 
Mr. Ralph W. Burnham has loaned a valuable collection of old china. 

To these we must add two gifts of notable value from friends not resident in our 
community. 

Among the guests at a quiet five o'clo(;k tea in midsummer, M'as a daughter of the 
late Amos Adams Lawrence. During his business visits to the Mill of the Lawrence 
Corporation near by, he often came into this House, and frequently expressed a wish 



22 ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR. 

that it might be repaired and preserved. She expressed great interest in the work al- 
ready done. She Avas much impressed with tlie need of more laud than we then owned, 
and especially with the desirability of securing the corner then occupied by a dilapi- 
dated house, so Avell remembered, and using the spot for ornamental purposes. Her 
interest found practical expression in the splendid gift of .$1800 for the purchase of 
the corner, as a memorial of her honored father. The property was secured at once, 
and also a small strip, six feet wide, adjoining our land on the west. The work of 
clearing the corner of buildings, filling and grading, has been carried on steadily. 
It was incumbent on the Society to improve the spot in accordance with the wish of 
the donor, as a garden. Accordingly a line of stone posts has been erected on our 
whole frontage, lawns and walks have been laid out, and our whole property graded 
and beautified. Incidentally, permanent receptacles for sewage have been constructed, 
some slight changes in the exterior of the house have been made, and modern improve- 
ments have been added in the rooms occupied by Miss Gray. This has involved con- 
siderable expenditure, of which some $300 remains unpaid. It seemed the Avisest way 
to complete the work on the house and grounds in durable and permanent fashion be- 
fore winter set in, and thus avoid the necessity of a resumption of the work in the 
Spring. The town authorities have cooperated with us very generously, by rebuilding 
the terrace on the front, changing the location of the fire hydrant, and setting a granite 
curbing on the corner. 

In response to a suggestion that the life of John Winthrop, Jr. , the Founder of our 
town, deserved more careful consideration in its relation to Ipswich, than it had re- 
ceived, Mr. Roberto. Winthrop, Jr., of Boston, very kindly consented to read the 
manuscript that I had prepared, and supplement it with such new material as he might 
find. He gave much time to the careful examination of the Winthrop papers, ap- 
pended much new matter, assumed entire charge of the illustrations and the printing, 
and bore the whole expense of publication. He has distributed copies very generous- 
ly to a multitude of historical societies and public libraries, and to the great libraries 
of the English and German universities including Trinity College, Dublin, where young 
Winthrop studied, and representative institutions ir) other lands, as far as Australia 
and Japan. 

Our society has been brought thus into a very conspicuous place, and already re- 
quests for our publications have come from foreign lands as Well as from many libra- 
ries in our own country. The Society is debarred by the express wish of both these 
generous donors from any formal acknowledgment, but we claim the privilege of grate- 
ful mention of such noteworthy beuefactions. These large gifts from friends of the 
Society who are not resident among us, and who are interested only remotely, it might 
be thought, in its prosperity, should stimulate the generosity of its members and friends, 
who are directly conversant with its aims and needs. We have accomplished our orig- 
inal design, in securing and furnishing our House, and providing attractive surround- 
ings. Our work however is only begun. We have passed from the stage of small 
things. We need large gifts. We face great enterprises. The floating debt with 
which we end the yeai should be provided for at once, for we need all the income ac- 
cruing from membership and admission fees for the work of the Society. The mort- 
gage of $1,()00, which encumbers our property, should be cleared. Before another 



ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR. 23 

■winter a proper steam or hot water plant should be installed for heating all the rooms. 
The unsightly barn that remains our neighbor should be removed. Our grounds must 
include the whole of the original lot. We need room at once for the erection of a log 
house, with thatched roof, wooden chimney daubed with clay, and oiled paper windows, 
as a counterpart of the humble cabins of many of the Puritan settlers. In a few years 
we shall need more room to house and display our expanding collections and for general 
use. A modern, fire-proof Memorial Building will be a necessity. In it a large and 
systematic collection of Indian implements, worthy of old Agawara, of costumes of the 
Colonial and Revolutionary periods, of ancient fabrics, table furnishings and heirlooms 
of every sort might be exhibited. Our Library would be safe and would have room for 
growth. 

A hall for the meetings of the Society would be provided and its walls might be 
emblazoned with the flags of the several periods of our national history, and adorned 
with tablets recording the glorious events of our town history, and names of those 
whose lives have illumined our annals. 

The land adjoining our own is unimproved at present. The owner is willing to 
sell. It affords an ideal site for this building that is to be. It should be secured with- 
out delay. Who is to be the donor? Who will make the first gift, looking towards 
the realization of these aims? If no immediate gift is available, Avho will provide by 
will for a generous bequest ? 

Old Ipswich was renowned for the quality of her first settlers, Wiuthrop, Denison, 
Saltonstall, Symonds, Ward and Norton. She was at the front in King Philip's war 
with her Appleton and his brave men. She raised her voice against the Andros tax. She 
sent her sons to every battlefield in the Revolution, and Hodgkins' memory lingers in 
these rooms, where he spent his declining years and died. Ann Bradstreet dared to 
claim new honor for her sex, Zilpah Grant and Mary Lyon toiled and planned here, and 
ushered in the dawn of a higher education for women. 

It remains for the Ipswich Historical Society to glorify the history of old Ipswich 
becomingly. She has a wide and inviting opportunity. The inspiration springing 
from successful endeavor urges her on. The obligation of progress, of comprehensive 
and ambitious eflfort in the future, is imperative. She must aim to be the most unique 
and conspicuous of the great multitude of Societies, that is coming into being. Only 
money is needed. Surely so trifling a lack will be easily supplied ! 



THE REPORT OF THE TREASURER OE THE IPSWICH HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 4, 18i)!». 



J. I. Horton in account witli tlie Ipswich Historical Society : 



To Fees and Subscrip. $944 41 

" Proceeds of Supper, 

Dec. 24 . . 25 00 

" Proceeds of Social, 

Jan. 21 . 11 80 

" Proceeds Entertain- 
ment by Daughters 
of Revolution . 13 00 

" Sale of old material 28 00 



Admittance fees to 

House . 
Sale of Books at 

House . 

Amos Adams Law- 
re n c e memorial 
sift 



Balance in Treasury 
Dec, 1898 . 



137 92 
16 00 



-S1022 21 



- $153 92 

§1800 00 

«297C 13 

194 tJ3 

§3170 7C 



Cll. 

Construction acct. 
S. F. Canney 
J. E. Kimball & Bro. 
J. W. Goodhue, on acct 
Benj. Fewkes 
A. H. Plourt' . 
Wall paper, etc. . 



)3!1 31 
94 75 
25 00 
11 00 
9 56 
13 95 



Labor acct. 






Austin L. Lord 


G5 


30 


James Thibedeau . 


43 


50 


Leander Goditt 


34 


13 


Sam. J. Goodhue . 


15 


35 


Foster Russell 


10 


12 


J. Howard Lakeuian 


4 


00 


Miscellaneous 


35 


28 


Work on Corner. 






Tearing down oklHous 


e 30 


(;r, 


Filling, grading, etc. 


102 


40 


Stone work acct. 


25 


00 


Stone 


9 


05 



#4(35 67 



$207 68 



Interest . . 43 50 
Rent on Rooms in Odd 

Fellows' building . 20 00 

Printing ... 35 35 

Insurance ... 23 00 

Furnishings, work, etc. 27 95 

Stamps, Stationery . 11 81 

Recording Deed, Charter 8 9fi 



$1(37 11 



(24) 



TREASUKEK S REPORT. 



25 



Bills due : 
Edward Choate 
John S. Glover 
Aug. H. Plonff 
Austin L. Lord 
Winfleld S. Johnson 
J. I. Horton, stove 
Francis H. Wade . 
J. W. Goodhue 
Michael Judge 
S. F. Canney 

Cash on hand 



Fuel 

Water Bill 
Teamins 
Miscellaneous- 
Miss Gray 
Stove 
A. Damon, china 

Purchase of corner 
Cash on hand 



7 85 




tt 00 




S 05 




20 !t0 




50 00 




10 00 




24 50 




ft'^ffi 


76 


iJP^-t-'O 


1950 


00 


81 


64 


.1*3170 


76 


70 r>3 




15 00 




87 OC 




21 42 




10 15 




9 00 




10 00 




CA 99 




3() 00 




r.O 94 





385 19 
81 64 



Deficit 



NAMES OF MEMBERS. 



Frederick J. Alley 
Mrs. Mary G. Alley 
Dr. Charles E. Ames 
Daniel Fuller Appleton 
Francis K. Appleton 
Mrs. Francis H. Appleton 
James W. Appleton 
Randolph M. Appleton 
Mrs. Helen Appleton 
Dr. G. Guy Bailey 
Mrs. Grace F. Bailey 
Charles W. Bam ford 
John A. Blake 
John E. Blakeniore 
Mrs. Caroline E. Boraer 
James W. Bond 
Warren Boynton 
Charles W. Brown 
Edward F. Brown 
Mrs. Elizabeth M. Brown 
Henry Brown 
John B. Brown 
Mrs. Lucy T. Brown 
Daniel S. Burnham 
Ralph VV. Burnham 
Rev. Augustine Caldwell 
Miss Florence F. Caldwell 
Miss Lydia A. Caldwell 
Charles A. Campbell 
Philip E. Clark 
Miss Lucy C. Coburn 
John H. Cogswell 
Theodore F. Cogswell 
Miss Harriet D. Condon 
Rev. Edward Constant 
(26) 



Charles S. Cummings 
Arthur C. Damon 
Mrs. Carrie Damon 
Mrs. Annie K. Damon 
Mrs. Cordelia Damon 
Harry K. Damon 
George G. Dexter 
Miss C. Bertha Dobson 
Harry K. Dodge 
Rev. John M. Donovan 
Arthur W. Dow 
Rev. George F. Durgin 
George Fall 
Miss Emeline C. Farley 
Joseph K. Farley 
Rev. Milo H. Gates 
Mrs. Pauline Gates 
Dr. Guy W. Gilbert 
Mrs. Florence Gilbert 
John S. Glover 
Frank T. Goodhue 
John W. Goodhue 
Rev. Arthur H. Gordon 
James Graffum 
Mrs. Eliza H. Green 
Miss Lucy Hamlin 
Mrs. Lois Hardy 
George H. W. Hayes 
Mrs. Alice L. Heard 
Miss Alice Heard 
John Heard 
Miss Mary A. Hodgdon 
Joseph I. Horton 
Lewis R. Hovey 
Miss Ruth A. Hovey 



Gerald L. Hoyt 

Miss Lucy S. Jewett 

John A. Johnson 

Miss Ellen M. Jordan 

Edward Kavanagh 

Charles M. Kelly 

Fred A. Kimball 

Rev. John C. Kimball 

Aaron Kinsman 

Miss Bethiah D. Kinsman 

Miss Caroline L. Lakeman 

Curtis E. Lakeman 

G. Frank Langdon 

Austin L. Lord 

George A. Lord 

Miss Lucy Slade Lord 

Thomas H. Lord 

Dr. George E. MacArthur 

Mrs. Isabelle G. MacArthur 

James F. Mann 

John P. Marston 

Everard H. Martin 

Mrs. Marietta K. Martin 

Miss Heloise Meyer 

Mrs. Amanda Nichols 

John W. Nourse 

Charles H. Noyes 

Mrs. Harriet E. Noyes 

Mrs. Anna Osgood 

Rev. Robert B. Parker 

Martin V. B. Perley 

Moritz B. Philipp 

Augustine H. Plouff 

Ernest Reynolds 

James E. Richardson 



NAMES OF MEMBERS. 



27 



Miss Anna W. Ross 

Fred G. Ross 

Joseph Ross 

Joseph F. Ross 

Dr. William H. Russell 

William S. Russell 

Angus Savory 

Charles A. Sayward 

Mrs. Henrietta W. Sayward 

George A. Schofield 

Edward A. Smith 

Henry P. Smith 

Mrs. Harriette A. Smith 



Rev. R. Cotton Smith 
Mrs. Elizabeth K. Spauldinj 
Dr. Frank H. Stockwell 
Mrs. Alice L. Story 
.John J. Sullivan 
Arthur L. Sweetser 
Rev. William 11. Thayer 
John E. Tenney 
Mrs. Annie T. Tenney 
Miss Ellen Trask 
Bayard Tuckerman 
Charles S. Tuckerman 
Francis H. Wade 



Miss Martha E. Wade 
Miss Nellie F. Wade 
William F. Wade 
Luther Wait 
Miss Anna L. Warner 
Mrs. Caroline L. Warner 
Henry C. Warner 
Rev. T. Frank Waters 
Frederic Willcomb 
Wallace P. Willett 
Chalmers Wood 



HONORARY MEMBERS. 



John Albree, Jr., Swampscott 
William Sumner Appletou, Boston 
Laniont G. Burnham, Boston 
Eben Caldwell, Elizabeth, N. J. 
Luther Caldwell. Washington, D. C. 
Stephen Caldwell, Avoca, Iowa 
Mrs. Edward Cordis, Jamaica Plain 
Charles W. Darling, Utica, N. Y. 
Elisha P. Dodge, Newburyport 
Miss Caroline Farley, Cambridge 
Mrs. Eunice W. Felton, Cambridge 
Jesse Fewkes, Newton 
Reginald Foster, Boston 
Augustus P. Gardner, Hamilton 
Charles L. Goodhue, Springfield 
Mrs. Elizabeth K. Gray 
Arthur W. Hale, Winchester 
Albert Farley Heard, 2d, Boston 



Otis Kimball, Boston 
Mrs. Otis Kimball, Boston 
Miss Caroline T. Leeds, Boston 
Mrs. Susan M. Loring, Boston 
Miss Adeline Manning, Boston 
Henry S. Manning, New York 
Mrs. Mary W. Manning, New York 
George L. von Meyer, Hamilton 
Mrs. Mary S. C. Peabody 
Frederic H. Ringe, Los Angeles, Cal. 
Mrs. Henry M. Saltonstall, Boston 
Richard W. Saltonstall, Boston 
Denison R. Slade, Center Harbor, N. 
Joseph Spiller, Boston. 
Miss Ellen A. Stone, East Lexington 
Harry W. Tyler, Boston 
George Willcomb, Boston 
Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., Boston 



H. 



ADDITIONS TO THE MUSEUM AND LIBRARY OF THE SOCIETY SINCE 
THE LAST ANNUAL MEETING. 



Rev. W. P. Alcott. Ancient book. 

Mr. Daniel Fuller Appieton. Norton's Evangelist, London, 1G57. New England 
Weekly Jonrnal, April 8, 1728. A Continental bill, dated February 26, 1777. A 
"Breeches Bible," in the original binding, London, 1G15. 

Mrs. Bartlett. Small glazed jug. 

Miss Emeline Bishop, Rowley. Dial of an old clock. Pair of buckram stays. 
Reed for loom. 

Mrs. Caroline E. Bomer. A mirror with inlaid frame. Bellows, warming pan, 
autographs, textiles, books, etc. 

Mrs. Elizabeth M. Brown. Set of candle moulds, brass skimmer, leather box, 
large braided mat. ' • Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul," Philip Doddridge, 1772. 
"Letters of Fletcher of Madeley." 

Mr. John B. Brown. Stone pestle. Deeds of Argilla Farm. 

Mrs. E. Newton Brown. A saddle cloth used by the Ipswich troop, about 1824. 

Mr. Ralph W. Burnham(loan). A collection of pottery, about sixty pieces, most- 
ly early English, slip and lustre ware. 

Miss Joanna Caldwell. Fringe loom. 

Col. Luther Caldwell. "Life of Ann Bradstreet." 

Mr. Philip E. Clark. Pair of scales, brass skimmer and ladle, tin kitchen. 

Colby College, Water ville, Me. " Personal Recollections of Baptist History and 
Biography." 

Connecticut Historical Society. Connecticut Records, 1776-1778. 

Dedham, Mass. "The Dedication of the Norfolk County Court House." 

Miss H. Augusta Dodge. A writing desk given to Mary Abigail Dodge (Gail Ham- 
ilton) by her pupils in the Ipswich Seminary in 1854. with her diploma from the Sem- 
inary and autograph letter. 

Essex Institute, Salem. Annual Report, 1899. 

Edward F. Everett, Cambridge. Record of the family of John Fuller of Ipswich, 
1634. 

Miss Anna Giddings. Printed matter, pamphlets, etc. 

Mr. George Haskell. Old books. 

Mr. Theodore C. Howe. A cotton coat worn by an officer of the Spanish Navy 
at the time of the battle of Manila Bay, May, 1898. A brass projectile fired from the 
" Olyrapia" at that time, and a glass plate Avith log cabin impressed, about 184 L 
(28) 



ADDITIONS TO THE MUSEUM AND LIBKART. 29 

Mr. Daniel Kimball. Sampler Avith pedigree of Whipple Family. 

Knowltoii Family Association. "The KiioAvlton ancestry." 

Mr. William T. Lambert, Hamilton. A petition from KoAvley men in Col. Pier- 
son's Regiment, for land grant in compensation of service in Indian war, dated May 
26, 1756. Copy of lease of lands of P' Parish Apr. 20. 1784. 

Mr. Frederick Lamson, Salem. Photograph of a Koyal Commission dated 1765. 

Mr. Daniel BoUes Lord. Salem. Ancient acconut book. 

Miss Emeline Mansfield, Lynn. I'ramed sampler Avorked by Abigail Glazier, 
1806. 

Worthington Mansfield. U. S. cent, 1798. 

Mr. Eben Moulton. Ancient brass scales. 

Mr. Ernest Perkins. Washington button. 

Mr. A. 11. Plonfl". An iron pot. 

New York, University of State of. Report of the State Historian. Colonial 
Series, 1897 and tAvo pamphlets. 

Mr. Timothy Ross. Certificate of Kossnth fund. 

Mrs. A. M. Russell. Braided mat. 

Dr. W. E. Russell. File IpsAvich Register and other papers. 

Mr. W. S. Russell. A damask table cloth and plate Avith picture of Whipple 
House. 

Miss Eunice K. Smith. Parasol. "Punkin "' hood. 

Miss Anna M. Smith, Rowley. Two pieces of early English pottery, a glass bot- 
tle'made before 1799, spectacles, HebreAv Bible, 1838. 

Miss Sarah E. Smith, Salem. A piece of damask from the Tracy House, NeAV- 
buryport, bed-curtains, under Avhich Wasliiiigton slept, Oct. ;!1, 1789, and Lafayette, 
Aug. 31, 1824. 

Henry Spaulding (loan). Fractional currency issued b}'^ Ipswich Union store. 

Miss Ellen A. Stone. Furniture, bedding, homespun linen, costumes, textiles, 
pottery and glass, kitchen utensils, carpenter and farm tools, etc., from the home- 
stead of Stephen Robbins of East Lexington. 

Mr. Daniel Stone. Candlesticks. 

Mr. J. J. Sullivan. Two century plants for the laAvn. 

Mrs. John F. Todd, Waldo, Florida. An Oxford Bible, 1789. Tavo miniature 
portraits, oven shovel, pair of Avi'ought iron pipe tongs, caiuile moulds. Snuft' box, 
etc., from the John F. Todd house, Rowley, Mass. 

Topsrteld Historical Society. Report of 1S9S. 

Mrs. Charles S. Tuckerman (loan). Umbrella. 

Mr. Daniel TreadAvell Wade, Ncav York. The Year Book of the Sons of the 
Revolution " in the State of Ncav York, 1899." 

Miss Sarah H. Wade. Old map of Louisiana. 

Mrs. George W. Wales, Boston. 29 pieces of pottery and porcelain, etc. 

Mr. Wallace P. Willett, East Orange, N. J. PeAvter and china. 



... PUBLICATIONS ... 



IPSWICH HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



I. The Oration by Rev. Washington Choate and the Poem by Rev. 

Edgar F. Davis, on the :iOOth Anniversary of the Resistance to 
the Andros Tax, 1887. Price 25 cents. 

II. Tlie President's Addre-s and other Proceedings at the Dedica- 

tion of their new room, Feb. 3, 189(i. Out of print. 

( III. Unveiling of th<' Memorial I'ablets at tlie Sonth Common and 
I IV. Proceedings at Annual Meeting, Dec. 7, 1896. Price 26 
cents. 

V. The Early Homes of the Puritans and Some Old Ipswich Houses, 

with Proceedings at Annual Meeting, 1897. Price 50 cents. 

VI. Order of Exercises at the Dedication of r.he Ancient House with 

a History of the House, and Proreei lings at Animal Meeting, 
1898. Price 25 cents. 

VII. A Sketch of the Lif;.- of John Winthrop the Younger, with 

portrait and valuable reproductions of ancient documents 
and autographs, by T Frank Waters. Price .$2.50. Postage 
13 cents. 



These publications will be sent to any nddress on receipt of price, 
upon application to 

T. FRANK WATERS. 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE IPSWICH 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

IX 



A HISTORY 



OF THE 



OLD ARGILLA ROAD 



IN 



IPSWICH, MASSACHUSETTS. 



Salem (trees: 

The Salem Press Co., Salem, Mass. 

1900 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE IPSWICH 

HIS TOPICAL SOCIE T) \ 

IX 



A HISTORY 



OF THE 



OLD ARGILLA BOAD 



IN 



IPSWICH, MASSACHUSETTS. 



BY 

Thomas Franklin Waters 



Salem press: 
The Salem Press Co.. Salem, Mass. 

1103 



fTA- 



Gift 
Tiie Society 

1.<F'05 



PREFACE. 

All attempt has been made ia the following pages to bring to- 
gether in compact form a history of the land ownership, and inci- 
dentally a brief sketch of the people who have owned the land 
or made their homes along the Argilla Road. 

To facilitate more minute research in regard to land titles, if 
anyone wishes to make original investigation, a series of foot- 
notes is appended. Reference is made to the five volumes, which 
were written in our own Town, and which contain the earliest 
record of land transfers, under the name, Ipswich Deeds. These 
volumes are deposited in the Registry of Deeds in Salem. The 
regular tile of County Records is referred to as Essex County 
Deeds. 

Ipswich, November, 1900. 



IMII': Ol.l) \K(;iLLA K'OAI). 



riiK sciiooi, oi;ciiAi{i> ani> imu. iiiii;iiai;|) s (m.osk. 



( JovKKNou W iiitliiop's Joiiiiml ii-coids l,li:il, in INImicIi Hi.'};!, .lolm 
W'iiilhroi), liis eldest son, lieiided m litMe eomimiiy of lliiiteeii men 
in niakini; ;i foiinMl selllenienl :il Al:,:i\\ :ini. \\\i[. llicrc imd hccii 
S(|ll!((iei" settlers, who wei'e ordeied :i\v:iv l>y llie (;enei:d (Onil 
on Sept. 7, MIMO,' and t-iiey niay liavc made llieir iuinies in our 
neiii,ld»oi'liood loi' a nnndiei' of years, and Inive made some s(.i'on;j, 
impression on (lie raw edi;(' of wilderness lite, ('eilain it is, iJiat 
wlien tlie lirsl pa};'es of onr 'I'own U'eeord were wiitlen in l(>.'M, 
idlnsion is made to many loealitii'S !is already well known and heiir- 
ini!; delinili' names. " 'I'lie lii<j,liway lo ( 'lielioUy " or Jnltixpn^ is 
one ol' these, and it is easily idenlilied as the later " road to Ar- 
j;illa " or '•'• llio Ar^illa Farm." 

'I'he majeslii- hill, whose base is skirled Uy tiie ancient, road, is 
'' eonunonly known as llart. hi'eak llill.'' The tidal eicelv that in- 
toi'seels it is allnded to, as known l>y the name of Lahour-in- 
vayne, i\\h\ llie other small liver or creek that tlows np from Fssex 
Ivivei" is mentioned as ('hciiacco ('I'cek, and "• connnonly Ivnown 
l>y that. name. Sa^amoic llill .-ind Castle llill also lind place in 
the Ivi'coids. 

These names are of romantic int.ei'esl. I leart-lireak is silggOHt- 
ive of t.h(' loneliness and homesickness wliich may have come to 
some primitive settler, lookinjj; off over the hhie ocean toward the 
I'iiiglish home. I know that eei'fain deeds <»f a centnry a<;o allude 
to il as llard-hrick llill, and so it is named on a 'I'own-map of 
l.s;5() ; hnt: a centnry of nniform allnsion to if as Ileail-hreak, pre- 
cedes fhis ma(,fer-of-fact epoch, and llc^arl-bi'euk it, shall still he, an 
eiidiiriiiii' memorial of the sadness of many of onr I'lirilan anci'S- 
tors. liaboiir in-vain heai's witness to the fruitless foil of some 
unknown pioneer, in thrnst.imj, his heavy canoe against its swift 



' Mns-. n;i\ IMcordK. 



0"') 



b THK OLD ARCILl.A KOAD. 

current, and reminds us as well of the severe labor which was char- 
acteristic of the earliest times. , 

Cbebacco, or Cheboko, or Jeboke, was the best the English 
tongue could do toward preserving the name, by which the Indians 
had called tlie pleasant region, stretching from the creek to the 
beach ; and Sagamore Hill is a monumental memorial of Mascon- 
nommet, who made formal sale of the territory occupied by the 
town, and who once held undisputed sway over a large area. 
Here, for ages no doubt, the red men dwelt, but the}' have left no 
trace save their stone weapons, their shell heaps and the blackened 
stones that reveal the site of their wigwams, and an occasional 
skeleton. Castle Hill nuiy have been named by some emigrant, 
who was glad to find on these shores some likeness of the statelj' 
English castles ; and Wigwam Hill was the summer home of gen- 
erations of Indians. 

Emerging from the period of mystery and romance the old road 
speedily took on historic definiteuess. Planting lots, pastures and 
great farms were apportioned, and houses began to be built. The 
names of settlers began to be associated with definite localities. 
Families sprang into being and struck their roots so deep and 
flourished so well, that nine generations have continued to till their 
acres, and spend their quiet lives hard by the ancestral home. 

The phenomenal interest which attaches to many localities along 
its whole length is manifest at the beginning. Turning from 
County Road the land on the left corner, reaching beyond the Til- 
ton barn, and extending through to Poplar Street was known for 
nearly two centuries as the "School Orchard." Mr. Robert 
Payne purchased this lot, estimated as containing two acres with 
a house, of Richard Coy, attornej^ to Samuel Heifer in 1652. In 
the succeeding year, 1653, he, " att his own i)roper cost and charge, 
built an edifice for a grammar school," upon part of the land thus 
purchased, and in October 1653, he executed a deed of the whole 
property to feoffees, who were to hold it in perpetual trust for the 
use and benefit of the Grammar School.^ The famous Ezekiel 
Cheever was duly installed in the house, and he began his prepa- 
ration of the Ipswich beys for Harvard College in the new school- 
house, which, as we infer from certain old deeds, was on the cor- 
ner diagonally opposite from the meeting-house of the South 
Church. Other gifts of Little Neck and the great School Farm in 

1 Ipfiwich Deedfi, v: •269,270. 



THE OLD ARGII.LA ROAD. 7 

the Chebacco parish gave an umisual eudownient, and the Ipswich 
School sprang at once into conspicuous notice. 

The school was kept for many years on the spot first selected. 
During the 18th century, its location is somewhat uncertain, but 
at the beginning of the 19th century, it was housed in the square 
hipped-roof scliool-house, which occupied the corner of the lot, on 
the County Road and the road to Argilla. Men of the finest 
character, Cheever and Andrews, Benjamin Crocker, Thomas Nor- 
ton, Daniel Dana, Josepli McKean, Major Burnliam and a host of 
others labored faithfully in the discharge of their high duties. 
Many young men went from its humble rooms to college, and 
out into high places in the world. 

Down to the year 1835, the "School orchard " was leased to 
responsible parties for tillage land, but in that year, the old school- 
house was moved to its present location, and the land was di- 
vided into house lots. Payne Street was laid out, and all the land 
was sold. A number of the substantial farmers of the South 
Parish, Abner Day, Josiah Brown, Ephraim Brown, Joseph Brown 
Jr., Joshua Giddings, John B. Brown, Winthrop Boardman, and 
Aaron Kinsman Jr.,i secured a lot on the southwest corner of 
Payne Street, and built a i-ow of horse sheds for Sunday shelter,, 
in place of an older row opposite the Cushing house. The school- 
house continued to be used until 1874. Thus the interests of edu- 
cation and of religion were long subserved by this two-acre lot. 

How the unknown Samuel Heifer came into possession of this 
land is not recorded ; but in a schedule of his estate, which the 
Deputy Governor Samuel Symouds filed with the officials of the 
town, there is indubitable allusion to it in the item : 

parcel of ground, containing one and a half acres, abuttmg 
on the East side thereof upon the lower end of Mr. W" Hubbard's 
close before his town-liouse, and the rest of the said parcel is sur- 
rounded with highways, which said parcel was part of Mr. .John 
Wiuthrop's six acre lot there, granted him by the freemen of the 
Town " — granted by "Winthrop to Symonds by deed date Oct. 24, 
1638.2 

This deed performs double service. It connects this location with 
Winthrop and Symonds, and reveals that Mr. William Hubbard 
owned and occupied as his town residence the adjoining prop- 
erty, now owned by Mr. Gustavus Kinsman. No other allusion 

1 Essex Co. Reconlt?, 2S1 : 213. 

- Ipswich Deeds, 1 :45. Pub. of Histor. Society, v : 65. 



8 THE OLD ARGILLA KOAD. 

to this estate occurs until 1674, June 3d, v/hen au Indenture was 
made between Rev. Wm. Hubbard and John Richards, a merchant 
of Boston, of his dwelling house and homestead, and other lands.' 
This was followed by a mortgage deed of Mr. Hubbard to Rich- 
ards, as agent for Major Robert Tompson of London, in 1677,- 
and by a deed of sale, dated March 5, 1684, to the same parly, 
of his " Messuage or Tenement . . . with the Orchard, Garden 
and pasture behind the same, and Cornefield before the same, con- 
tayneing by P^stimation Seaven acres, with other lands," for £480. 

A century later, June 16, 1788, Robert Thompson of Elshani. 
Great Britain, sold Mr. John Heard, " eight acres, adjoining land 
belonging to the Grammar School, beginning at the East corner 
by the road leading to Capt. Jabez Treadwell's, then by the road 
leading to Isaac Burn ham's, thence back in the same to the land 
first described."^ 

Mary, the daughter of John Heard, sold to Augustine Heard 
an undivided half of the land, with a barn, called the " Pinckin 
close " containing seven acres, ^ and Augustine Heard sold the lot 
'' commonl}' called the Pynchem lot," to Ebenezer Caldwell on 
Nov. 1, 1851.^' Captain Caldwell erected the spacious buildings, 
and at the decease of his widow, the estate was sold to Mr. Gus- 
tavus Kinsman. 

This fine property, still substantially of the same size as the 
original grant, derives intense interest from the Hubbard ownei'- 
ship. Mr. William Hubbard Avas a citizen of the finest character. 
His son, William, was a member of the first class which was grad- 
uated from Harvard College, in 1642. Entering the ministry, he 
was invited to become colleague with Mr. Cobbet, the Pastor of 
the Church, in 1656. He married Margaret, the daughter of Rev. 
Nathaniel Rogers, took up his abode in the homestead, and in due 
time became its owner. He continued in the ministry until 1703, 
when infirmity compelled his retirement, and he died the following 
year, aged eighty-three. He attained especial eminence as an 
historian, and his History of New England, for which the Legis- 
lature voted him £50, was subsequently published, and is still a 
work of recognized value. But his financial troubles are best re- 
membered. 

He had no thrift in the handling of his affairs, and was contin- 

' Ipswich Dcedi<, 1 .10. ■'■ Es.sex Co. Deeds, 149: -.Wi. 

Ul>.s\vich DeecLs, 4:18-2. "Essex Co. Deeds, ;5-29: 2:53. 

6 E.ssex Co. Deeds, 4.52:104. 



TIIK OLD ARGII.LA ROAD. y 

ually beset by his creditors. His misfortunes culminated, as we 
have seen, in the loss of his paternal estate. Felt says that he 
resided on Turkey Shore. It is known that he married the widow 
Peirce for a second wife, and her house was probably on the site 
of the present residence of iNIrs. Henry Lakeman, as an old cellar, 
which was probably the Peirce cellar, was discovered when this 
was built. So the old minister may have left his sightly location, 
wnth its waving cornfield before the house, and the orchard behind, 
and spent his last years in the humbler abode by the river side. 

Singularly enough the Hubbard homestead was known many 
years ago as the " Pinchon close," and his pasture in Old Eng- 
land is alluded to as the '' Pinchon Pasture." The origin of this 
title is unknown, but it may have come from John Pynchou of 
Springfield, who married Margaret, daughter of Mr. Hubbard, and 
granddaughter of Rev. Nathaniel Rogei's. 

One grotesque remembrance of Mr. Hubbard, in his better 
days, is revealed by the Records of the old Ipswich Court. The 
good man seems to have been the prey of his servants and their 
friends, but their peculations came at last to naught. On the 25th 
March, 1673, they were brought to the bar of the Court. Peter 
Leycross, Jonas Gregory and Symou Wood, "for stealing and use- 
ing five gallons of wine from Mr. Hubbard's," were judged to pay 
him £5. Peter Leycross and Symou Wood w^ere also arraigned 
for stealing one gallon of wine from Mr. Hubbard, and Peter 
Leycross, again, for stealing three quarts. Peter and Jonas were 
also convicted of stealing a sheep and selling it, and Jonas alone 
was called to account for " a fatt weather " stolen from the minis- 
ter's flock. These were all sentenced to be whipped unless they 
paid their fines. Nathaniel Emerson and Richard Pasmere were 
convicted of being at Jonas Gregory's, and having part in the 
revels over the stolen wine. 

Poor Mr. Hubbard was little profited by these sentences, for 
Peter was his own servant, and on the 5th of May, in the follow- 
ing year, the Court ordered, 

"Whereas, Mr. William Hubbard hath disbursed £8 for liis 
servant Peter Laycross, in satisfaction of the sentence of Coui't 
for his thefts," it is ordered that said Peter shall serve him two 
years for it after his time is out. 

The other side of our old road is of less interest. The corner 
was occupied in 1828 by a hipped-roof store kept by one Wade 



10 TlIK 0\A) ARGILLA KOAD. 

Cogswell, who sold to Mr. David Giddings,' who in his turn en- 
larged the store and made it serve as store and dwelling. The 
land was part of the estate of Dr. Nathaniel Cogswell of Rowley, 
who was grandson of -Jonathan AVade, and inherited much land 
in this vicinity from him. Samuel Wade was the owner of all the 
land from the Wade- Cogswell corner to the Burnham estate, as I 
am informed by an old resident, and he received it by inheritance 
I presume. The brothers, Jonathan and Thomas AVade, two cen- 
turies ago, seem to have owned nearly the whole tract from the 
Argilla road to the other road to Chebacco, known now as Essex 
road . 

UO( KY II ILL. 

The sightly residence of Mr. Moritz B. Phillipp crowns the blutf 
eminence known in Mr. Hubbard's day and from the earliest times 
as Rocky Hill. The earliest name perhaps, that is associated with 
this hill, is that of Hum()hrey Griftin. He was a man of humble 
birth seemingly, and with small store of worldly goods, when he 
knocked at the door of the little settlement. He found little favor, 
as the matter of his coming was debated in the town meeting in 
1639, and the result was,'' the Town doth refuse to receive Hum- 
phrey (rritiln as an Inhabitant, to provide for him as inhabitants 
formerly received, the Town being full." Nevertheless Griffin 
made his home here, and built his liist dwelling on the summit of 
the hill, I surmise, near the house occupied by I\Ir. Albert Jodrey, 
where sundry remains of an old dwelling have been turned up by 
the plough. He prospered at his trade as a butcher, and bought 
Mr. Denison's house near the House of the Historical Society, but 
he was often the victim of contrary circumstances. In 1647, the- 
Grand Jury list reveals the infelicity of his married life. 

" We present Widdow Andrews . . for cursing and reviling her 
son-in-law Humphrey Griffin." 

"We present Humphrey Griffin for reviling his wive's mother.'* 

He was so indiscreet as to work on the Sabbath and he was sen- 
tenced to pay a fine of ten shillings for unloading barley on the 
Sabbath day, before sunset, in the year 1657 ; and so unfortunate 
as to be fined another ten shillings, the next year, for his daugh- 
ter's violation of the law in Avearing a silk scarf. Our sympathies 
are roused for the self-made man, and we are glad to learn that 

' Essex Co. Deeds, •2:>'^: -219. 



THE OLD ARGILLA ROAD. 11 

he eventually owned some fifty acres on Heart-break as well as his 
modest homestead on Rocky Hill. One Simon Tompson, a rope- 
maker, bought Griffin's house and land, three acres more or less, 
and sold it to his son-in-law, Abraham Fitt,' whom he had per- 
suaded to leave his home in Salisbury and settle here, in August 
1 (i58. It was inherited.by Abraham Fitts's son, Abraham, and later 
by William Baker, son-in-law of Abraham, second of the name, 
who sold it to Francis Crompton, the innkeeper,'- Mar. 20, 171 1. 

Crompton's heirs sold to John Fitts, leather dresser, and Jabez 
Treadwell, cooper, in 1741,3 and it continued in the Treadwell 
family for several generations. The remainder of the rugged hill 
belonged, for the most part, to generations of Fullers, who owned 
it for many years. The slopes which are tilled with rocky ledges 
remained a part of the Common-lands until 1755, when it was 
sold to Jabez Treadwell, PLbenezei' Fuller and Samuel Lakeman, 
one of the heirs of James Fuller, who received an acre apiece. ■* 

The gently sloping field below the ledges, bordering on Wood's 
Lane, as the way to Old England was called, and the road now 
Rocky Hill Road, was sold by the administrators of Samuel Lake- 
man to Ephraim Fellows, in 181 1,^ and it included the acre bought 
from the Committee of Proprietors of Common-lands and 6/7 part 
of the house lot formerly James Fuller's adjoining. Mention is 
made in the deed of this committee to Samuel Lakeman of the 
clay pits, " reserving liberty to the Inhabitants of the Town of 
Ipswich always to dig clay at the end of the Hill." Nathaniel 
Fuller sold James Fuller Junior, his title in a dwelling house and 
land, which came to Nathaniel by the death of his brother Thomas, 
on the hill called Rocky Hill, in 1699.« An old cellar was remem- 
bered by the late Ephraim Fellows near the well in the corner, 
which probably belonged to the James Fuller house. John Fuller 
seems to have been living in the vicinity of Mr. J. Howard Burn- 
ham's residence in 1658". His son James sold his interest in his 
father's house and land to his brothers Thomas and Joseph, 1679.** 
Ebenezer Fuller sold five acres with the buildings to Isaac Burn- 
ham in 1768.9 Later it was owned by Aaron Burnham and Theo- 
dore Andrews. 

I Ipswich Deeds. 1. ' Essex Co. Deeds, 206: 96. 

■^ Essex Co. Deeds, 25: 82. " Essex Co. Deeds, 17 : 119. 

3 Essex Co. Deeds, 8:i: 11. ' Ipswich Deeds, 1: .568. 

* Essex Co. Deeds, 119: 136. » Ipswich Deeds, 5: 82. 

9 Essex Co. Deeds, 151 : 25:3. 



12 TllK OlA> AKGILLA UOAD. 



HEART-BREAK HILL. 



A little beyond Rocky Hill the majestic slope of Heart Break 
■confronts us, smooth and symmetrical, in striking contrast with 
the rugged sides of its lesser neighbor, and capable of being used 
as tillage ground to its very summit. This broad domain was 
■carefully apportioned by the town into tillage lots of moderate size 
and granted to the settleis. This was in accordance with the policy 
of the times, which refused any large grants near the village to 
individuals, and divided the large areas on Town Hill, Sagamore 
and Heart Break among a large number of citizens. The reason 
ot this preference of hillside lands to level and more easily culti- 
vated llelds, ma}' be found in part in Captain John Smith's re- 
mark, incidental to his visit to Agawam in 1614. 

" Here are many rising hills, and on their tops and descents are 
many corne fields and delightfuU groves."' 

The settlers may have naturally availed themselves of the hill 
clearings made by the Indians. But old-time farmers, within this 
century, had a strong conviction that the best land lay on the hills, 
and refusing the lower levels, they cultivated the high lands at 
great outlay of heavy labor. The original tillers of the soil ma}' 
have had this belief. 

The record of land grants enables us to trace with reasonable 
accuracy the various lots on the sunny southern side of the great 
hill. East of William Fuller. Denison had four acres, and then 
proceeding down the road, were Allen Perlie's four acre-lot, Rob- 
ert Kinsman's six acres, Richard Hatfield's four acres, Humphrey 
Wyeth's six acres and Alexander Knight's four-acre lot, each front- 
ing on the road and rnnning back np and over the crest. Other 
parts of the hill were owned by John Proctor, Thomas Wells, who 
exchanged his six-acre lot with John 8eaborne, Mr. Dudley, who 
sold to William White and he to Thomas Treadwell as early as 
1G38, Mr. John Tuttle, who sold to Reginald Foster in 1G38, anil 
whose eight acres are described as bounded by a little swamp north 
and south. 

The original grantees seem to have disposed of their holdings at 
an early date. William Fuller removed to Hampton, and sold his 
grant to his brother John. His lot was bounded by the Simon 
Tonipson lot on the north and may be identified with the location 

1 Hibtorv of Virginia. 



THE OLD ARGILLA ROAD. 13 

now occupied by Mr. J. Howard Biirnliam. The bulk of the hill 
came eventually into the hands of Simon Tompson, who at his 
death bequeathed some fifty acres to bis grandchildren, Abraham 
Fitts and Sarah Fitts, wife of William Baker, children of his sou 
Abraham.! Generations of Fittses continued to own this laud. 
Aaron Fitts sold sixteen acres to Nathaniel Heard in 1794.- A 
portion of this land fronting on the Argilla Koad was sold by 
Heard to Jabez Treadwell in 1796,^ and the remainder to -losiah 
Burnham in 182 1.-^ 

Treadwell had previously purchased a four-acre lot of Daniel 
Fitts in 1755, on the west of this lot.'' The heirs of Jabez Tread- 
well sold to Wm. Jenyss, in 1807,^ and Jenj^ss sold Robert Baker 
4 Jr acres called "the old field," and 8 acres called "Fitts Pas- 
ture" in 1809.'' " The old field" was sold by Baker to Joseph 
Kinsman in 1818,^ and still remains m the Kinsman family. It is 
directly opposite the residence of Mr. J. Farley Kinsman. John 
Baker, the son of Robert, sold twelve acres to George Haskell, in 
1850, March 9.^ Mr. Haskell enlarged his domain by five acres, 
bought of Nathan Brown in May,io and in 1852 he purchased twelve 
acres of Aaron F. Brown, i' who had just bought of John Baker. '- 
By this purchase he came to own on all three sides of a six-acre 
lot whicli Ebenezer Fuller had sold to John Appleton in 1770,^'' 
the same presumably Daniel Hovey had sold to Joseph Fuller in 
1689.1** John Appleton bequeathed it to his son John in 1793, i^"" and 
in the division of the latter's estate in 1798, this field fell to his 
daughter Elizabeth Treadwell.'^ She married a Sutton, and Wm. 
and Ebenezer Siitton sold it to Mr. Haskell in 1855. i'^ On this 
lot Mr. Haskell built his mansion ; but, for many years before he 
made his home here, he had devoted himself enthusiastically to 
fruit culture, especially experimenting with the grape to produce 
if possible a hardy variety that would be valuable for wine. He 
never attained this, but originated several valuable table varieties. 
All his land on this side of the road as we have seen was included 
in the early Simon Tompson estate. 

1 Probate Records, -Jo .luiie, 1675. ^ Eeeex Co. Deeds, 425: 193. 

2 Essex Co. Deeds, l.iS : 270. '« Essex Co. Deeds, 429 : 289. 
-Essex Co. Deeds, 172: 119. >' Essex Co. Deeds, 464:299. 
•Essex Co. Deeds, 307: IfiS. 12 Essex Co. Deed.s, 458: 125. 
6 Essex Co. Deeds, 119 : 119. " Essex Co. Deeds, 127 : 133. 
6 Essex Co. Deeds, 180: 266. " Ipswich Deeds, 5: 306. 

' Essex Co. Deeds, 187 : 80. 1= Probate Records, 363 : 110. 

^ Essex Co. Deeds, 216 : : 03. "^ Probate Records, 366 : 242. 

1' Essex Co. Deeds, 52S :87. 



14 THE OLD AKGILLA ROAD. 

The fiiiel\' wooded slope, recently purchased of Mr. John Gal- 
braith by Mr. Geo. A. Barnard, was owned previously b}' Mr. 
Frederic Bray, who bought an orchard "so called" about six 
acres in March, 1850, of James Manning of Rockport.' It came 
to liim from John Manning, who bought in 1841 of John B. Brown, 
Joseph Kinsman and others, ... - and these I presume were the 
heirs of Thomas Bnrnhani, in whose family the title had resided 
for generations. The fine open fields beyond the old orchard were 
included in the ancient Simon Tompson property, and when that 
estate was divided, they fell to William Baker, who had married 
Sarah Fitts, daughter of Abraham Fitts and granddaugther of 
Tompson.^ Baker enlarged his holding April 1, 1697, by the pur- 
chase of a small lot, measuring one and a quarter acres, of Jona- 
than Wade, and it is stated in the deed that it was on the northeast 
side of the highway that separated it from other land of ^^'ade.^ 
Baker sold to Robert Fitts in 1714 "that island of upland and 
meadow, which I bought of Mr. Thos. Wade . . . about one acre," 
also " one half acre out of ye ten acres lying on the side of said 
Island, always reserving a highway sufficient for carting through 
said Island and half acre."^ 

On Nov. 22, 1731,^ Robert Fitts sold to Abraham Fitts, his half 
part of 56 acres, " in which is included all the land which I and 
my said brother Abraham, bought of our uncle Baker," and the 
land which came "• partly by inheritance from father Abraham, 
and partly from Wm. Baker." It is specified in this deed that the 
sale included " my dwelling house and barn in said premises." 
Fitts sold this house and barn with three-quarters of an acre to 
Jacob Boardman in 1734," and in 1747, Boardman sold to Richard 
Manning, gunsmith.^ 

No mention is made of the house and it may have disappeared. 
But the location of this ancient dwelling is undoubtedly preserved 
by the remembered location of an old cellar, near the road, and a 
little way from the barred gateway, which used to be known as 
the " old cellar l)ars." The house was built evidently by Robert 
Fitts, a little later than 1714. 

The heirs of Wm. Baker, John Waite, John Baker and others, 
sold their interest in an adjoining nine-acre field to Joseph Abbe 

1 Essex Co. Deeds, 425 : 7. s Essex Co. Deeds, 29 . 9-2. 

2 Essex Co. Deeds, :«!: H. « Essex Co. Deeds, 59: 130. 
" Essex Co. Deeds, 9: 273. I(i9;{. ' Essex Co. Deeds, 67 : 44. 

^ Essex Co. Deeds, 12 : 16. ' Essex Co. Deeds, S8 : 282. 



THE OLD AKGILLA KOAD. 15 

ill 1744.1 Abbe sold to John Appletoii in 1748,"- who also ac- 
quired an adjoining tract of upland and niarsli, bordering on Labor- 
in-vain Creek, in 1753,^ from Kev. Nathaniel Rogers. This prop- 
erty had passed from father to son, from the first minister of the 
name, and had been in the Rogers family for more than a century. 
At Mr. Appleton's death, he bequeathed to his son William, ''all 
the land I bought of Nathaniel Rogers and Joseph Ashljy,'"* 
\79'3.-' When Win. Appleton's estate was divided, the Abbe and 
Rogers lot fell to his daughter Mary Bowditch, 1809." Wm. A. 
Bowditch and others, heirs of their mother, Mary Bowditch, sold 
•'Abbey's lot" to Joseph Kinsman in 1834,'^ and his grandson, 
Gustavus Kinsman, has reeentl}' sold to Mr. Geo. A. Barnard. 

These prosaic facts may well be supplemented by Celia Thax- 
ter's well-known poem, totally unhistoric, but a very pleasing 
idyll, devised to explain tlie name. 

In Ipswich town, not far from the sea. 

Rises a bill Avhicli the people call 
Heart-break Hill, and its history 

Is an old, old legend known to all. 



It was a sailor who won the heart 

Of an Indian maiden, lithe and yonng: 
And she saw bim over tlie sea depart, 

While sweet in her ear his promise rnng; 

For lie cried, as he Ivissed her wet eyes dry, 

" I'll come back, sweet-heart ; keep your faith ! " 

She said, " I will watch while the moons go by." 
Her love was stronger than life or death. 

So this poor dusk Ariadne kept 

Her watch from the bill-top rugged and steep ; 
Slowly the empty moments crept • 

While she studied the changing face of the deep, 

Fastening her eyes on every speck 

Tliat crossed the ocean within her l\en ; 
Might not her lover be wallving the deck. 

Surely and swiftly returning again? 

1 Essex Co. Deeds, 89: 129. * Error for Abl)e. 

! Essex Co. Deeds, 93: 36. ^ Probate Records, 36:5; 110. 

■■'■ Essex Co. Deeds, OS: l.il. ' Probate Records, 376: 101; 378: ISl. 

' Essex Co. Deeds, -ISO: 32. 



16 THE OLD AKGII.LA KOAO. 

The Isles of Shoals, loomed lonely and dim, 

In the north-east distance far and gray, 
And on the horizon's nttermost rim 

The low rock heap of Boone Island lay. 

Oh, liut the weary, merciless days. 

With the snn above, with the sea afar, 
No change in her fixed and wistfnl gaze. 

From the morning red to the evening star ! 

Like a slender statne carved of stone, 

She sat, with hardly motion or breath. 
She wept no tears and she made no moan, 

But her love was stronger than life or death. 

He never came back I Yet, faitlifnl still. 
She watched from the hill-top her life away, 

.And the townsfolk christened it Heart-break Hill, 
And it bears the name to this very day. 

BATH SPRIX(;. 

Mention is made in the deed of Bowditch to Kinsman in 1834 
of the Bath Spring. This is still seen by the roadside, though I 
have been told by an old resident that in early days it bubbled up 
near the center of the present highway, and that it was led by a 
pipe to its present location. The name Bath Spring is interesting 
as connecting it with other well-known springs or wells. The first 
thus specified is mentioned iu a deed by Matthias Button to 
Thomas Wells in 1644, of twelve acres upland and meadow, which 
alludes to Goodman Ilovey's Island and " the spring well that 
is in " this Island.' A later deed of the " Startford Farm and 
Ilovey's Island or Bath Island," from Beamsley Perkins to Thomas 
Choate, makes exception of "the Bath and house thereon, situate 
in said Bath Island with liberty to re-edify the house over the bath 
or build another of same dimensions, wliich is reserved." July, 
1719.'-^ 

A well, now filled to the curb, may still be found there, but as 
no evidence of any dwelling is found, it perplexes us to know why 
such value should have attached to the water of this spring or well, 
that it was housed in, and reserved by the owner, when he sold all 
the adjoining land. A second spring, highly valued as a bath, is still 

' Ipswich Deeds, 1: 485. '^ Essex Co. Deeds, 37: 2S. 



THE OLD ARGILLA ROAD, 17 

covered by the brick building on Spring Street, and is used by the 
County for a source of water supply for the House of Correction, 
lu 1772, Dr. Berry petitioned the town in regard to it as follows : 

"A petition of Doctor Thomas Berry, shewing as it has been 
found by Experience that a cold bath is of great service to man- 
kind, and there being a suitable and convenient place to erect one 
at the upper end of the spring in Hogg Lane so called, nigh the 
house of John Grow, praying that the town would please to make 
a grant to him and his heirs of twenty feet of ground, below the 
bank at the foot of the upper spring, to erect an edifice for the use 
aforesaid, the Town reserving to themselves the whole benefit of 
the Lower great Spring which is no ways to be diverted."' 

This was granted, and the bath house was probably erected, 
but whetlier for his family alone or for public use is not declared. 
I incline to believe that the name Bath Spring, still attaching to 
this spot, indicates that it may have been enclosed in a similar 
structure for tiiis purpose, and it may have been of special value 
to Robert Fitts and the other dwellers in the house that once stood 
near it. 

GIDDINGS-IiUKNHAM. 

Retracing our steps to the dwellings and farms on the southern 
side of our old highway, we consider first of all the ancient 
dwelling, once picturesque with great chimney stack and project- 
ing second story, now through remodelling, prosaic and coiumou- 
place in outward appearance. It used to be said that John Win- 
throp owned the land and built the house, but records and deeds 
are stubborn witnesses, and their testimony is invariably against 
this tradition. The Town Record, under the year 1635, informs 
us that a grant had been made to George Giddings of " one hun- 
dred acres of Land at Chebocky " (now the town of Essex), and 
''likewise about sixteen acres of meaddow and upland, havinge 
the highway to Cheboky on the north-east," and a house lot as 
well on the south side of the river. This very ambiguous location 
becomes more definite when we find in the deed of sale^ from 

Giddings to Thoraas Burnam of "my dwelling house wherein said 
Thomas now dwelleth and twelve acres of land, bounded by the land of 
Mr. Jonatlian Wade toward tlie North, and land of Mr. Nathaniel Rogers 
toward the West and South, the Highway leading to Chebacco, East." 
.Jane 3, 1667. 

1 Town Records. ^ Essex Deeds, i: 217. 



18 THE OLD ARCilLLA ROAD. 

The Rogers laud may be identified with the meadow on the turn 
of the road, between the Ordway property and the land about the 
old house, which continued in that family for several generations. 
The Burnham title continued through generations of sons bearing 
the good old names of Thomas, Isaac, Aaron, Josiah, and one of 
finer parts, Doctor Joshua, down to the year when Mrs. Sally, 
widow of the last Josiah, sold it to the present owner. It would 
appear from the deed that Burnham was living on this spot at the 
time, and it might be thought possible that the present well-pre- 
served building is the original house. But the style of the house 
in its original form and its general appearance, led Dr. Lyon of 
Hartford, an expert in olden architecture, to locate it about the 
beginning of the next century. 

George Giddings, it is believed, came over the ocean in the ship 
Planter, and an old shipping document' is of interest. 

2 April, 1G35. 

Theis underwritten are to be transported to New England, imbarqued 

in the Planter, Nicholas Frarice, M."^ bound thither, the parties have 

brought certificates from the Minister of St. Albans in Hertfordshire, 

and attestacon from the Justices of peace according to the Lord's order. 

George Giddins, husbandman, 25 years. 
Jane Giddins, 20 years. 

Thomas Carter ' 25 I 

Michael Willinson 30 ^ Servants of George Giddins. 

Elizabeth Morrison 12 J 

People of the poorer sort frequently bound themselves to ser- 
vice in the families of well-to-do emigrants, and thus secured free 
transportation to the New World. Michael Williamson, whom we 
may identify with Michael Willinson, above, accompanied Mr. 
Giddings to this town, and received a grant of land on Heart] 
break, and another on Sagamore Hill. 

We have remarked on the early residence of the Fullers on the 
other side of the road. On the occasion of a dispute as to the 
bounds of the highway, old William Fuller was summoned as a 
Avitness. His testimony is explicit, and suggestive of neighbor- 
hood bitternesses of the period. 

" Dec. 13, 1681. William Fuller, seventy-three years of age of 
Hampton, testified that about forty-one years ago, the highway to 

1 From "Our Early Emigrant Ancestors," edited by Jolin C. HoHen quoted in "The 
Giddings Family." 



THE OLD ARGILLA ROAD. 19 

Chebbacco was laid out by the lot-layers, and myself beiug pres- 
ent, four rods wide between my four acre lot at the West end of 
Heart-break Hill, between my lot and Goodman Giddings house 
lot which is now Ensign Burnham's or which was when I was last 
in Ipswich. I was displeased they took so much. I sold to my 
brother John." 

John Fuller, son of William, testified to the same effect, and 
added that tliere was no land inclosed between his father and 
Goodman Burnham's. He was thirty-eight years old. 

lee's meadow. 

Boundary lines were fixed by blaze marks on trees, by stakes 
and small heaps of stones, and such convenient natural objects as 
brooks and water-courses. As an inevitable result, boundaries 
were always in dispute, and committees on encroachment on the 
public domain found ample ground for their existence. The road 
to Chebaceo was four rods wide by the location of the lot layers, 
but practically it was only a narrow winding wheel- rut, with no 
fence or wall to mark its course. This superfluous width was 
turned to good advantage by the thrifty town's folk. On Feb. 10, 
1640/1, the Town voted that " the hay upon Chebaceo waye to- 
ward Labour-in-vain Creek be granted to John Lee this year only," 

"the land itself beino; settled for a liighwaj-, the Town 
intending that by like grant, he shall enjoy it, he giving 
no cause to the contrary, it remaining in Town's hand 
to give or not to give." 

Having thus affirmed that John Lee shall have no ground for 
any possible future claim to ownership of this four rod strip be- 
cause of his privileges therein, the town proceeded most com- 
placently, and with much of serene satisfaction with this novel 
scheme for highway repair, to vote that the highway to Chebaceo 
beneath Heart-break Hill '^ shall forever be repay red by the 
benefit of the grass yearly growing upon the same." Evidently 
John Lee paid due heed to keeping the highway in usable condi- 
tion, presumably finding the arrangement profitable, for the town 
voted repeatedly that he should enjoy all the profits of the high- 
way and "all the common ground lyeing at the foot of Heart-break 
Hill," maintaining the highway from Rocky Hill to William Lamp- 
son's lot " and if there be any ground that may convenvently be 



20 TlIK OLD ARGILI.A ROAD. 

planted he hath liberty to plant it and secure it for himself he al- 
ways leaving a sufficient highway for carting and drift." 

He continued his care of the way ten years at least, as the vote 
of Oct. 31, 1650, ordering the surveyors to repair the highways 
leading to Chebacco and to Castle Neck, makes exception of "that 
part of the iiighway that John Leigh hath undertaken." No one 
could do this work at greater advantage. His dwelling was on 
the Turkey Shore road, on the site of the houses lately built by 
the Atkinson Brothers, > and he owned the broad stretch of meadow 
on the south side of the old road, still known by the older people 
as " Lee's meadow," stretching from Low's lane, now Heart Break 
Road, or thereabout, toward the Galbraith farm, and a small tract 
of upland on the hillside. 

In March, 1654, " being about seventy years old," Lee was 
released from ordinary training, but he lived until 1671. His in- 
ventory recorded that year mentions a 

" pasture by the sate by Sergeant Burnain's, £20-0-0." 

Further allusion to that gate is found in the Ipswich Court Record, 
which has preserved to his posterity that Joseph Lee, son of John, 
was summoned before the Court in 1681, 

" for cumbering the gate at Rocky Hill near Ensign Burnam's." 

We may dismiss so trilling an offence forthwith, but the allusion 
to the gate is an item of interest. The natural inference is that 
he obstructed some gate through which there was a public way and 
we may venture a step farther and imagine that this was a gate 
or place of passing through the "common fence " as it was called, 
which encircled the town. 

As early as 1637, it was voted that " a general fence shall be 
made from the end of the Town to Egypt River, also from the 
east end of the Town, in the way to Jeffries Neck," and liberty 
was granted to fell any trees that may be needed for this pui-pose. 

It was provided in 1639 that, " in all common passages, and in 
such ways as lead to particular men's lands, sufficient gates shall 
be set up at the charge of those benefitted." A general or common 
fence of this kind, crossed the Old England road, as appears from 
a division of land between Leigh's sons, passed over Heart-break 

' The autlior of "The Descendants of John Lee of Agawani," p. 80, is in error in 
locating his residence on the Heart-break Hill land. 



THE OLD AUGILLA ROAD. 21 

Hill and came down over the Chebacco way, thence across the fields, 
over County Road near the brook and on to the river. Its location 
was not quite agreeable to Thomas Burnani and Jolin Fuller, and 
they presumed to move it, whereupon the Towu sternly ordered, in 
the year 1650, that they should "remove that part of the Common 
fence at the enterini>; of the field at Heart-break Hill, to the place 
where it stood before." 

The Lee or Leigh ownership lends a piquant flavor to this ancient 
meadow. In his young manhood, he was of a turbulent and unruly 
temper. In The Mass. Colonial Records, we find " April 1 -*, 1634. 
It is ordered that John Lee shall be whipt and ffined for calling 
Mr. Ludlowe false-hearted knave, & hard heart knave, heavy 
friend &c." 

His vicious tongue and unseemly behavior involved him in fresh 
<lifflculties with the magistrates. In October of the same year, 
'• It was ordered that 

" John Lee shall be fined XL' for speaking rpchfuUy of 
tlie Gov'r, saying lie was bnt a lawyers clerke, & what 
understanding had hee more tlian himselfe ; also taxing 
tlie court for makeing laws to pticlie mens purses, as 
also for abuseing a mayde of tlie Gov'rs, pretending love 
in the way of marriage when himself professes he had 
none.'"' 

Neither Judge nor Governor was safe from his revilings, and 
his humbler neighbor fared even worse at his hands. In 1641, 
*' John Lee of Ipswich was accused of stealing the widow Hatfield's 
bible : was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to pay the widow 15® 
for her bible, and lO"" for lying about it." He was fined for rail- 
ing speeches in May, 1660, and in March, 1665, he was fined for 
contempt by non-appearance at Court; and in his old age, in 
March 27, 1667, he was "brought before court to answer for 
working in his swamp on Sunday, but brought witnesses to prove 
he was putting out a fire, and so was discharged." 

We may well fear that many a by-passer felt the sting of his 
tongue, and that his neighbors found him a sad trial, but the re- 
membrance of his waywardness is mellowed with time, and he still 
remains a picturesque figure in the broad meadow. 

Thomas Burnham enlarged his property by the purchase of a ten 
acre lot, of John Emery of Newburyport (which was sometime 

1 Mass. Col. Record, Oct. 1634. 



22 THE OLD ARGILLA KOAD. 

John Webster's), bounded by Leigh's land on the east, and his 
own west, with land of John Fuller between it and the highway', 
in 1653 (Jan. 13),' and three acres of William Fuller which 
lay between his own land and that of John Lee, lately deceased 
when the deed was drawn in 1671, ^ and at his death owned about 
twentj'-five acres, ^ which was divided between his sons James 
and Thomas, the latter receiving the house and land adjoining.'' 

John Lee left two sons, as well, John and Joseph. John sold 
his brother all his interest in the lands owned by their father.-"^ 
He had previously bought, three acres of Willinm Fidler, adjoin- 
ing Thomas Burnham's. He removed to Concord, and sold thirty 
acres of meadow and upland to Major Francis Wainwriglit, Uec. 
24, 1695. '" At this time it is evident that there was no highway 
leaving the Argilla road where the present Lowe's lane or Heart 
Break Road is, but the Burnhams and Lees owned the whole tract 
continuously. 

Tiie first mention of this lane at this northern end occurs in the 
deed of Samuel Kinsman to George Creightonof Gloucester, of the 
dwelling, house, barn and four acres of land, the property now 
owned and occupied by Mr. J. Farley Kinsman, on July 14, 1777.''' 
Samuel was the son of John Kinsman, who bought much of the 
estate of James Burnham, who received it fi'om his father, James. 
Creighton sold to Michael Kinsman, April 21, 1795,^ and his heirs 
sold to Joseph Kinsman, grandfather of the present owner, Jan. 
31, 1821.-' The old barn by the roadside bears the date 1822, 
and was built, evidently, in the year following his purchase. The 
present house was built near the same date. Joseph Kinsman 
enlarged his modest property in 1835, by purchasing the six acre 
field on the corner of the lane of Geo. W. Heard. It is called 
"Lee's Meadow" in the deed,"' which further recites that the east- 
ern bound is on laud formerly of Nathaniel Cogswell. 

Nineteen acres of the original Lee's Meadow were owned by 
Jonathan Wade at his death about 1749.'' His grandson, Dr. 
Nathaniel Cogswell of Rowley, inherited most of his estate, and 
his son, Northend Cogswell, of South Berwick, sold the meadow^ 

• Essex Co. Deeds, 5: 11. « Essex Co. Deeds, 2: .51. 

- Ipswich Deeds, iv. ' Essex Co. Deeds, 144 : 210. 

■ Essex Co. Deeds, 9 : 166. s Essex Co. Deeds, 159 :161. 

< Essex Co. Deeds, 9: 161,165, 168, Nov. 28, 1693. « Essex Co. Deeds, 227: 24. 
Ipswich Deeds, 4 : 495, Sept. 37, 1681. '"> Essex Co. Deeds, 283 : 27. 

" Probate Record, 3.30 : 4.3,-). 



THE OLD ARGII.I-A ROAD. 23 

estimated as containing sixteen acres, to .John Heard in 1823.* 
Increase H. Brown, of Marblehead, bouglit it of Thomas Brown 
and sold it to George Haskell in 1854.- 

THE FORTY ACHKS. 

The farm, now owned and occupied by Mr. John Galbraith, was 
owned by Mr. Frederic Bray, and previously by Dr. John Man- 
ning, who bought twenty-five acres here of Dr. Joseph Manning 
of Salem, in 1834,-' and erected the buildings. The deed recites 
that it -was part of the estate of John Appleton, deceased. John 
Appleton acquired some tiiirty acres by a succession of small pur- 
chases from John Boardman. Jacob Boardman, John Kinsman and 
Nath. Cogswell, and it is specified in several of the transfers that 
the lots were part of the "forty acres so called," a designation 
which is still remembered by the old people. 

Samuel Rogers, son of the Rev. Nathaniel Rogers, received as 
part of his share of the parental estate, "forty acres, adjoining 
Mr. Wade, Mr. Saltinstall and Joseph Lee, 1684."'' I think this is 
the same property, as Mr. Wade owned the land on the east in 
1697,' and Mr. Nathaniel Rogers owned land immediately oppo- 
site. Mr. Rogers was probably the original owner. 

ARGILLA FARM. 

The land and marsh on the east side of the Labour-in-vain Creek, 
extending as far as the road known as the " North gate road," 
were John Winthrop's three hundred acre farm, granted him in 
1634. His title to the farm was beyond dispute and it redounds 
to his credit that he subsequently made terms with the Indian saga- 
more, whose dominions had been invaded by the English. The 
oiiginal document, by which the Indian transferred the land to 
Winthrop is reproduced in a Sketch of John Winthropthe Younger. ^ 

" This doth testify that I Maskonomet did give to M'' John 
Winthrop all that ground that is betweene the creeke comSly called 
Labour in Value creeke & the creeke called Chybacko Creeke, for 
w*"'* I doe acknowledge to have received full satisfaction in wam- 
pampeage & other things : and I doe heerby also for the sume of 

1 Essex Co. Deeds, -274 : IW. * Ipswich Deeds, 5: 14(>. 

■■' Essex Co. Deeds, 490 : 94. ^ Essex Co. Deeds, 12 : 16. 

■■Essex Co. Deeds, 189:14. e Publications of Ipswich Histor. Society, VII. 



24 TIIK OLD ARGILLA UOAU. 

twenty pounds to be paid unto me by the said John Wiuthrop, I 
doe fully resigne up all my right of the whole towne of Ipsw*^'* as 
farre as the bounds thereof shall goe, all the woods, meadowes, 
pastures & broken up grounds, unto the said John Winthrop in 
the name of the rest of the English there planted, and 1 doe bind 
my selfe to make it cleere from the claimes of any other Indians 
whatsoever. 

Maskonomett — his marke 

Witnesses to this : 

Gyles Ffyrmin 

Adam Wintlirop 

Hugh Hilliard 

his marke 

Deane Wiuthrop 

A subsequent deed dated 28 June, 1638, states that the money 
Lad been paid. In 1637, he conveyed it to Samuel Symonds, 
who became Deputy-Governor of the Colony, and was an eminent 
Judge and man of affairs. When Mr. Symonds bought it there 
were no buildings, and his first care was to erect a house for him- 
self. He gave such minute directions to Mr. Wiuthrop, who as- 
sumed charge of the building, and the letter is so characteristic 
of^ the man and the times, that I append a considerable portion 
of it. 

To John Winthrop Jr. 

To the' Right Worshipful! his unich honored brother, John Wenthrop 
of Ipswich, Esqr. Speed this I pray. 
Good Sir: 

I have received your lettre, I thanke you for it, it hath bin my earnest 
desire to have had an oportunity longe ere this to have bene with you 
againe, but Avas hindered by the weatlier .... 

Concerneiuge tlie bargaine that I liave made with you for Argilla, my 
Avife is Avell content, & it seems that my father Peter' hath imparted it to 
the Governor, who (he tells me) approves of it very well, alsoe soe I hope 
I shall now meete with noe rub in that businesse ; but go on comf Ortablely 
accordeing as I have & daily doe dispose my aflaires for Ipswich. 

Concerneiuge the frame of the howse, I thanke you kiudely for your 
love & care to further my busines. I could be Avell content to leave much 
of the contrivance to your owne liberty vpou what we have talked to- 
gether about it already. 

1 Rev. Hugh Peter of Salem, who married Elizabetli, widow of Edmund Reade, and 
mother of Martlia, tlie second wife of Symonds. 



THE OLD AR<aLLA ROAD. 25 

I am indiferent whether it be 30 foote or 35 foote longe, 16 or 18 foote 
broade. I would have wood chimnyes at each end, the frames of the 
chimnyes to be stronger then ordinary to beare good heavy load of clay 
for security against fire. You may let the chimnyes be all the breadth of 
the howse if yon thinlve good; the 2 lower dores to be in the middle of 
the howse one opposite to the other. Be sure that all the dorewaies in 
every place be soe high that any man may goe vpright under. Tlie staiers 
I thinlve had best be placed close by tlie dore. It makes no great matter 
though there be noe particion vpon the first floore ; if there be, make one 
biger then the other. For windowes let them not be over large in any 
roome, & as few as conveniently may be : let all have current shutting 
draw-windowes, having respect botli to present & future vse. 

I think to make it a girt howse will make it more chargeable then neede ; 
however the side bearers for the second story being to be loaden witli 
corne etc. must not Ije pinned on, but rather eytlier sett into the studds 
or borne vp with false studds & soe tenanted in at the ends. I leave it to 
you and the carpenters. In this story over the first, I would have a 
particion, whether in the middest or over the particion vnder, I leave it. 
In the garrett no particion but let there be one or two Income windowes, 
if two both on one side. I desire to have the sparrs reach downe pretty 
deep at the eves to preserve the walls the better from the wether. I 
would have it sellered all over, and soe the frame of the howse accorde- 
ingly from the bottom. I would have the howse stronge in timber 
though plaine nnd well brased. I would have it covered with very good 
oake-hart inch board, for the present to be tacked on onely for the pres- 
ent, as you tould me. Let the frame begin from tlie bottom of the seller, 
& soe in the ordinary way upright for I can hereafter (to save the tim- 
ber within grounde) run vp a thiu brick work without. I think it best 
to have the walls without to be all clap boarded besides the clay walls. 
It were not amisse to leave a doreway or two within the seller, that soe 
hereafter one may make comings in from without, & let them be both 
vpon that side which the Income window or windows be. I desire to 
have the howse in your bargaineing to be as compleatly mentioned in 
particulars as may be, at least so far as you bargaine for, & as speedily 
done alsoe as you can. I thinke it not best to have too much timljer felled 
near the howse place westward etc. Here are as many remembrances as 
come to minde. I desire you to be in my stead herein, & what ener you 
doe shall please me. 

I desire you would talkewith Mr. Boreman & with his helpe buy for 
me a matter of 40 Ijushells of good Indian corne of him or of some lion- 
est man to be paidd for now in ready money & to be deliuered at any time 
in the sumer as I please to vse it. I would deale witli such a man as will 
not repent if corne rise, as I will not if it fall. Thus acknowledging my 
bouldness, I desire to present our respectful! love to you, my sister, & 
your little one, not forgetting my daughter, I cease, committing you to 
him that is mercy & wisdome it selfe & soe rest. 

Yours — ever 

S. Svmonds. 



26 THE OLD ARGILLA ROAD. 

A lengthy postscript is appended wliich is omitted here. The 
letter bears no date, hut was written, evidently, soon after the 
purchase of the Argilla farm, as it was called even in Winthrop's 
time, sometime before the spring of 1638.1 Its quaint and labored 
phrasing does not obscure the meaning. We can see the stout 
farm house, with its overhanging eaves, and small oblong win- 
dows, with clapboarded sides, and roof of inch oak boards, and 
huge chimneys, one at either end, built with wooden splints well 
daubed with clay, standing in a clearing, which is bounded b}' 
the natural forest on the west, only a little way from the door. 
Exceptional interest attaches to his remark about " the side bear- 
ers " as he expresses it, being '' let in to the studs" or supported 
with extra studs, and not simply pinned on to the studs. This is 
precisely the style of architecture of the ancient Whipple House, 
lately restored by tiie Historical Society, in the most ancient part, 
which has proved a puzzle to architects, who have examined it. 
The studs reach from sill to plate and the girths are let in to the 
studs on the inner side and pinned to them. This may indicate 
that this portion of the house ma}' have been built not far from 
the time of the Argilla farm house. 

It indicates as well that the earliest houses had two ciiiniiie3'^s, 
which is confirmed by other incidental allusions I liave seen, with 
regard to other houses, and that the single chimney-stack of huge 
proportions was probably resorted to, -when building could be done 
with more leisure and greater facility. In this case, however, 
bricks are alluded to, and the}' were evidently in use at this early 
period. 

Here, in the wilderness, sat this lonely farm house, the only 
dwelling probably in this whole region. Its exact site is uncer- 
tain. An ancient cellar is known to have been located on a kuoU 
beyond the causeway, southeast of the present house, and several 
hundred feet away. Another house once stood a little to the east 
of the present dwelling. But this was of later date. 

Here the good magistrate and Deputy Governor spent many 
restful days, when he could escape tlie bui'densome toil of his offi- 
cial life. He had a town house with three acres of land, where 
the old Seminary building and adjoining residences stand to-day ; 
but he loved his farm and farm life, as his letter reveals. There 
were times when Indian assault was feared, and in October 1675, 

' The origin of the name, Argilla, is unknown. Gradually it was extended to the 
whole vicinity, and the road has been called by tlie same name for generations. 



TlIK OLD ARGILLA ROAD. 27 

the General Court voted that a guard of two soldiers should be 
stationed here at public expense, to guard his house, because it 
was so remote from neighbors, and he was so much in the coun- 
try's service. 

In his old age, the Deputy Governor sold a piece of his faim to 
Edward Bragg. The deed ' was drawn, April 21, 1676, and de- 
scribes a nine-acre lot, with a barn and other buildings, Avhich 
'' abutteth toward the east and South upon my farme called Ar- 
gilia, & upon Mr. SaltonstaU's meadow toward the East, upon the 
ground of Mr. Samuel Rogers toward the North, and upon the 
ground of the sayd Mr. Rogers and of the said Edward Bragg 
toward the West." Also "all that parcel of land (four acres and 
a half) lying between the farme of the sayd Samuell and the pres- 
ent common ground of Ipswich, y"^ abutteth upon an orchard of 
the sayd Edward Bragg's toward the north and upon part of my 
farm towards the South ; and it is the full meaning of both parties 
that the way leading to and from the farm aforesayd called Argilla 
& my house erected thereupon, through Edward Bragg's yard be 
continued free forever ..... that way is not intended by the 
word free as a connnon highway for all men, but particularly be- 
longing to Argilla." 

It appears from this that he sold Bragg, land that lay between 
the main farm and the highway, reserving a way to his house 
across it. In old deeds of division of a century ago, frequent 
allusion is made to a lane, then called Caldwell's lane, which was 
forty-five rods from the bridge over the creek. This makes it co- 
incident with an old road, that leaves the road on the west side of 
]Mr. Alden Story's residence, and leads over the old causeway to the 
knoll, where the ancient cellar has been tilled. In all probability 
this was the way Mr. Symonds reserved, and his house stood over 
this old cellar, on the knoll, beyond the causeway. 

He died on October, 1678, while in Boston, imd was buried 
there. He left a widow and sons, Harlakendine and William, and 
six married daughters. The farm was divided among them, but 
in 1695 Thos. Baker of Topsfield, who had married Priscilla, one 
of Mr, Symonds' daughters, began to buy from the other heirs. 
A series of these deeds, supplemented with later partitions and 
agreements, and covering a century of the Baker ownership, with 
a multiplicity of signatures and seals, has been preserved, and ha? 

1 Ipswich Deeds, 4 : 39. 



28 THE OLD ARGILLA ROAD. 

lately been given by Mr. John B. Brown to the Historical Society. 
Baker bought tlie interest of Symonds Epes, Jan. 10, 1694-5, 
that of Harlakenden Symonds, Feb. 4, 1695-6. The heirs of 
William Sjnnonds gave a quitclaim on July 25, 1717. John 
Baker, son of Thomas, succeeded to the ownership. Joseph, 
Jacob and Philip Fowler quitclaimed to him, March 2, 1720. 
Timothy Bragg sold seven acres and ninety rods of the land, pre- 
viously within the farm, Feb. 1, 1723-4, and Thomas Berry, 
attorney for the Saltonstall heirs, sold him a tract of upland and 
salt-marsh, abutting on Labour- iu-vain-Creek, Dec. 12: 1730. 

Tiie whole western portion of the original Argilla farm seems 
thus to have come into the possession of John Baker. Colonel 
Baker died Aug. 1, 1734, aged forty-four, and left the farm to his 
son John. The latter became a man of large influence and great 
public usefulness. He was Town Clerk for many years, one of 
the Committee of Correspondence and Inspection during the Rev- 
oUition, Colonel of a regiment, feoffee of the Grammar School, 
and Justice of the Sessions Court, and not least of all, father of 
twelve children. His town residence was the substantial dwelling 
on the Heard property, facing the South Green, now occupied bj' 
Mr. Charles M. Kelly. 

In the partition of tlie estate in 1786, the widow received " the 
southwest end of the mansion in town," and two acres near the 
house, •' from the house-block southwest by the street, etc," with 
the southwest end of the house at the farm with 33 rods of land 
bounding on Caldwell's lane four rods and twenty licks, and other 
lands. John received twenty-five and one lialf acres in ''the great 
pasture," bounded by " the highway to the Town " and " the high- 
way leading from Cape Ann to Castle Hill," with other lands, in- 
cluding Eagle Nest Island. Allen Baker received fifteen acres 
fronting on the highway, about forty-five rods from Labour-in- vain 
Bridge to Caldwell's lane, with the northeast end of the farm house 
and the new barn, with other land. 

After their mother's death in 1797 John received " one acre at 
the North corner of the close, so called, beginning at the north 
corner of John's new dwelling house," and Allen, the west end of 
the old dwelling house, etc., "with all the privilidges to sd lane 
(Caldwell's) which belong to sd. Argilla farm." The " new dwel- 
ling house," of John Baker is now owned and occupied by Mr. 
Alden Story. Allen Baker built the substantial hip-roofed farm 



TIIK OLD ARGILLA ROAD. 29 

house near bj' early in the present century. The Allen Baker 
farm house was purchased by Mr. Elphraim Brown and inherited 
by his son Thomas, whose widow and son own and occupy the his- 
toric spot to-day. 

JONATHAN wade's GRANT. 

The next farm in the earliest period was Jonathan Wade's. He 
received a grant in l(334i of ''two hundred acres at Cheboko, 
haveing Mr. Winthrop's farm on the northwest, Mr. Samuel Dud- 
ley's northeast, and a creeke called Chebacco Creeke on the South- 
east." On April 1, 1654, he made an " indenture" to Henry Ben- 
net of '' his farm called and known by the name of said Wade, his 
farm, and given him by ye town of Ipswich." It was bounded 
by land of Mr. Samuel Symonds on the north, the land of Mr. Sal- 
tonstall on the east, and of Mr. Rogers on the west, and a creek 
on the south containing about two hundred acres with houses, etc- 

Henry Bennet sold the farm, now called Bennet's farm, to Col. 
John Wainwright for £800 in 1697, March 14.^ Its bounds are 
as before except that it is specified that Major Saltingstall's farm 
is " now in ye tenure of Isaack Fellows," two hundred acres with 
dwelling houses, barns, etc. 

The Wainwrights were of an illustrious family. The first of 
the name, Francis, was a soldier in the Pequot war and afterward 
a wealthy merchant. He bought tiiirty acres of the Jolin Lee 
grant, as has been mentioned. His son John, who bought the 
Bennet farm, was a prosperous merchant, a colonel of a regiment, 
and justice of the Sessions Court. He died in 1708, in his 60th 
year, and his sons John and Francis received the farm. John at- 
tained wealth, honor and influence. He was representative from 
1720 to 1738, Clerk of the House eight years, and was always a 
conspicuous figure in public affairs. He was Town Clerk, Justice 
and Colonel as his father had been before him. 

In 17534 (Feb. 1), Colonel John Wainwright, Mary his wife, 
and his mother, Christian, sold sixty-five acres, "reaching to the 
Great Creek," to Pelatiah Kinsman. In March, 1754,^ Mr. Kins- 
man bought forty-three acres more, with a dwelling house and 
barn, bounded by John Day's land and Francis Wainwright's. 

1 Town Records. » Essex Co. Deeds, 12: 157. 

2 Ipswich Deeds, 1 : i-lS. « Essex Co. Deeds, 101 : 28. 

8 Essex Co. Deeds, 101 : 25. 



30 THE OLD AKGILLA KOAD. 

He extended his domaiu yet farther in 1763 ' by tlie pnrehase of 
another tract, "beginning near the North Gate by tlie road," also 
" a piece of orcharding containing three-qnarters of an acre 
bounded at John Day's line, westerly about nine rods, etc," in all 
containing seventy-eight acres. The Wamwrights all had resi- 
dences on East Street, and their farm properties were occupied 
by their tenants. But Pelatiah Kinsman was a true son of the 
soil, a direct descendant of the famous Quartermaster Robert, 
who figured so grandly with Rev. John Wise and the others in re- 
sisting the Andros tax. His son, Aaron, succeeded and his son, 
Aaron, hale and hearty, in his 97th year, has lived and toiled all 
his long life on this broad and sightly domaiu. 

DUDLKY-SALTONSTALL FARM. 

When Jonathan Wade's farm was granted in 1634, the farm 
that bounded his on the northeast was owned by Mr. Samuel 
Dudley. When he sold to Bennett in 1654, it was owned by 
Richard Saltonstall, though occupied by Isaac and William Fel- 
lows. INIr. Saltonstall was the foremost citizen of his time in 
many respects, of noble birth, of great wealth, of preeminent 
distinction in political affairs, but his residence in our town was 
short and the majority of his best years was spent in England. 
On the occasion of the marriage of his son Nathaniel, then resid- 
ing in Haverhill, with Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. John Ward of 
Haverhill, and granddaughter of Rev. Nathaniel Ward of Ips- 
wich, iu 1664, he conveyed to his son, with other lands, the farm 
at Chebacco, containing about one hundred and fifty acres. ^ On 
April 6, 1731,^ Thomas Berry, attorney for the heirs of Nathan- 
iel Saltonstall, sold to Rev. Nathaniel Rogers, the farm commonlj' 
known as Day's farm, occupied by John Day, in Little Chebacco, 
for £1850. 

Mr. Rogers was the pastor of the Ipswich Church, the son of 
Reverend John Rogers, who was also pastor of the church all his 
life, grandson of Rev. John Rogers, President of Harvard College, 
and great-grandson of the first emigrant, Nathaniel, pastor from 
1638. He turned his bargain to excellent advantage, by dividing 
the original farm into two, making the highway to Castle Hill, the 

I Essex Co. Deeds, US: 35. ^ Ipswich Deeds, ii. 

■ Essex Co. Deeds, 79:203. 



THE OLD AKGILLA KOAD. 31 

dividiDg Hue. In earlier times, it is evident that this was only a 
cartwaj' through the farms, with gates and bars at the dividing 
walls or fences of each farm ; and in the following century, remem- 
brance remains of the great grandmother of the late Manasseh 
Brown going to town from the Argilla Farm, when the road was 
only a dim track through the woods. She used to say that she 
could cover with her apron, the sapling oak, which still survives 
by the Bath Spring, a gnarled and misshapen wreck. Fifty years 
ago the owner of the land it occupied resolved to cut it down, and 
it was saved by an appeal to the County Commissioners to change 
the line of the road to include it in the public domain. 

The eighty-foux acre tract on the southeast side of the road with 
the dwelling and barn, the worthy minister sold to John Day, the 
occupant, for £1696-l0s. on April 9, 1733. The deed' mentions 
a cartway reserved, through the upland, and "the gravelly nole 
near where the school-house now stands." He kept the other part 
nine years and then sold it for £1250, to Stephen Smith,- except- 
ing the w^ay from Colonel Denison's farm to the road or way lead- 
ing to Castle Hill. John Day bequeathed his farm to his sons. 
Nathaniel sold his half to Abner, Jr., a w'orthy man. Deacon for 
many years of the South Church, ^ and he deeded'' to his son John, 
in 1814, one undivided half of three undivided quarters of the 
farm, "that my grandfather purchased of Rev Nath. Rogers." 
It was owned later by Asa Stone, and is still the property of his 
heirs. The old farm house stood very near the site of the pres- 
ent dwelling. 

denison's farm. 

The pedigree of the breezy hill top farm, now occupied by Mr. 
Herman H. Story, begins with the graut of 150 acres to Daniel 
Denison, the soldier of the town, whose skill in military affairs 
was so great that he became the commander-in-chief of the colo- 
nial forces. His townsmen had such supreme appreciation of his 
value as a leader in the stormy times, when Indian assaults were 
always dreaded, that £24-7s. was raised by popular subscription 
annually for many years. A most pretentious man, withal, very 
proud of his dignity as civil magistrate and local aristocrat. 
Record remains of a most unseemly dispute between the pompous 

1 Essex Co. Deeds, 89 : 46. s Essex Co. Deed.s, 147 : 285. 

2 Essex Co. Deeds, 107 : ■22e5. * Essex Co. Deeds, -204 : -266, June 25, 1814. 



32 TUK OLl> ARGILLA ROAD. 

soldier and the gentle Deputy Governor, regarding a boundary 
between their lands. It culminated in an open quarrel ovier a load 
of hay, and the common people enjoyed the delectable sight of a 
suit-at-la\v between the two foremost men, which w^as settled in a 
kindly grant of the Town to Mr. Symonds to make good what he 
relinquished to pacify his overbearing neighbor. 

It continued in the Denison family a hundred years and more. 
John Denison sold in 1743' (Sept. 21), to Francis Cogswell, Tan- 
ner, " the full two-thirds part of ye farm called Dennison's farm, 
whereon I said Francis now live, containing about one hundred 
and thirty-eight acres — bounded northeast by Jacob Smith's land, 
south by Stephen Smith's land," etc. 

Francis Cogswell bequeathed his wife Elizabeth the use and im- 
provement of one-half his real estate, but gave all his real estate 
to his son Francis.- His inventory-^ includes " a fustin coat, 4s, pair 
of velvet britches 16s, silver watch 106s, Sd. 

blue jacket, 6s, 8d. 2 wiggs, 5s. 

a negro boy called Cato £36-5s. 4d. 

the schooner Deborah & boat & all appurtenances, £80-0-0-0. 

the old schooner Dolphin & boat & all appurtenances, £66-13-4." 

The stately Francis with wig and watch, blue jacket and velvet 
britches represents one extreme of the social scale of that day, 
the black slave boy Cato, the other. The old Denison farm con- 
tinues to be occupied by people that interest us, but no figure at- 
tracts us more to-day than the humble chattel, clattering down 
from Town horseback and up through the lane to the hill top farm. 

The second Francis'' remembered his wife Elizabeth with "a 
suit of suitable mourning after my decease," and his sons Francis 
and Joseph with his real estate. The third Francis^ left a wife 
Anstice and two sons Francis and Joseph, to whom his estate Avas 
divided in 1793, and Joseph*' died in 1791, and his half of the es- 
tate continued to his heirs, Ebenezer and Joseph. The brothers, 
Ebenezer and Joseph, succeeded, and Ebenezer's sons Ebenezer 
and Joseph owned and occupied the estate for many j^ears. 

NATHANIEL WARD's FARM. 

The Denison farm on the hill-top was bounded by Mr. Ward's 

Essex Co. Deeds, 88 : 1". * Probate Records, 351 : 645, June 6, 1772. 

2 Probate Records, 333 : 440, Feb. '25, 1755. ^ Probate Records, 362 : 533, .June 20, 1793. 
' Probate Records, 334 : 424. " Probate Records, 361 : 48S, Dec. G, 1791. 



THE OLD ARGILLA ROAD. 33 

land ou the northeast. We may regret that the location is so 
vague, and allusion to it so rare, for Mr. Ward was a grand 
figure in the early days. Rev. Nathaniel Ward, as he is better 
known, was the first Pastor of the struggling church, a man who 
had tasted hardship in common with his Puritan brethren in 
England, who found poverty and sickness and trouble in the new 
life here, but who did grand work in foundation laying for the 
new commonwealth. One very affecting incident in his history is 
the letter he wrote to John Winthrop, Jr., about the year 1635. 
In the postscript, he writes, 

" I heare Mr. Cockling ton hath the sale & disposal! of 
much provision come in this shipp. I intreate you to do 
so much as to speake to him in my name to reserve some 
meale & malt & what victuals els he thinks meete, till 
our River be open ; our Church will pay him duely for it. 
I am very destitute, I have not above 6 bushells corne 
left & other things answerable." 

I incline to identify the Ward farm with the northern part of 
the Charles Smith or .John Lowe farm, though it may be included 
in the farm, known as the Randall Andrews farm. What pathetic 
interest attaches to the land, which was planted and watched with 
anxious care, from early springtime to the glad harvest by the 
poverty-stricken minister, who prayed and toiled that his harvest 
might be ample to secure him against another experience of such 
pinching want ! 

BISHOP-WELLS-riLTON FAKM. 

The land now included in the Charles Smith and adjoining farms 
was owned at a very early date by Tliomas Bishop, who sold 80 
acres upland and meadow to Thomas Wells in 1644.1 Matthias 
Button sold Wells 13 acres upland and meadow, bounded by 
widow Lumpkin's farm at Sagamore Hill, in the same year.2 Dea. 
Symond Stone of Watertown, who had taken Sarah, Richard Lum- 
kyn's widow, to wife, sold Mr. Wells forty acres more in 1654.3 

Sagamore Hill was originally apportioned in small tillage lots to 
a considerable number of owners, as we have seen already in the 
case of Heart-break Hill. No record of sale remains, but it is 
evident that in a few years they were absorbed into the Lumkyn 
and adjoining farms. 

' Ipswicli Deeds, 1 : 419. 2 ipt^wich Deeds, 1 : 435. 

3 Ipswich Deeds, 2. 



34 



THE OLD ARGILLA ROAD. 



Thomas Wells left two sons, Thomas and Nathaniel. Thomas 
quitclaimed his portion to his brother, in 1669,' and the deed 
gives the south and southeast bound on land of Samuel Rogers. 
This Rogers' land is located by the deed of sale of Daniel Epps 
to Mr. Samuel Rogers, for £240, of his house, barns, out-houses 
etc., and fifty acres of land " at a place comonly called Chebacko, 
the land of Mr. John Rogers & Thomas Wells toward north & 
north-west, lands of Major Denison and Mr. Saltonstall's farm 
toward the west, other land of said Samuel and a great creek 
toward the south and east" (Jan. 24, 1664).- 

This may be identified with probable accuracy with the fields on 
the south side of the highway, nearly opposite the dwelling of Mrs. 
■Charles Smith, where an old cellar and well, and traces of other 
buildings are still visible, and indicate the spot where, we may pre- 
sume, the ancient farm buildings stood. Mrs. Martha Rogers, 
widow of Mr. John Rogers, sold a property for £246 to Nathaniel 
Wells in 1695, a house, barn and forty acres, which is bounded 
substantially as the preceding and may be identified with it.^ 

Thomas Wells sold Abraham Tilton Jr., his farm, described as 
"part of ye farme which my brother bought of ye relict of Mr. 
John Rogers, & part of ye farm of aforesaid father Nathaniel 
Wells, deceased," sixty acres, in 1706/ and Nathaniel Wells sold 
Tilton some sixteen acres more in 1709.^ Abraham Tilton gave 
his sou, Daniel, a three-acre lot, on which Daniel had his residence, 
in 1729,^ which Daniel sold back to his father in 1737." 

Part of the Wells farm continued in the Wells line until 1809, 
•when Nathaniel Wells sold to Oliver Cogswell,^ who built the house, 
now standing, about 1815. It was purchased and occupied for 
years by Mr. Manasseh Brown, owned later by the late Alvin 
Story, and now by Dr. J. L. Goodale. The remainder of the farm 
passed into other hands. Abraham Tilton conveyed one half his 
farm to his son Abraham, the northeast part, including the three 
acres in 1737 ;9 and in 1741, 'o Daniel Tilton and others sold Jacob 
Smith about one hundred acres, with buildings, " lately owned 
and possessed by our Hon''. Father, Mr. Ab"\ Tilton Gentleman," 
including land on both sides the road, "only excepting and reserv- 



^ Ipswich Deeds, 3. 
"Essex Co. Deeds, 3: 85. 
3 Essex Co. Deeds, 12 : 10. 
* Essex Co. Deeds, 20 : 19. 
Js Essex Co. Deeds, 24: 4. 



6 Essex Co. Deeds, 53 : 78. 
' Essex Co. Deeds, 73: 61. 

8 Essex Co. Deeds, 188: ]01. 

9 Essex Co. Deeds, 73 : 41. 
I" Essex Co. Deeds, 83: 10-'. 



THE OLD ARGILLA ROAD. 35 

ino" the road leading to Castle Hill, the road or way leading to Em- 
erson farm^ (so called) now owned by John Choate, Esq., also 
a way or privilege of passing over the south side of said farm, 
heretofore reserved by Mr. John Rogers and after by Mr. Thos. 
Wells, deceased." 

It is interesting to note that, in the middle of the last century, 
the highway to Castle Hill was so ill defined that there was need 
of reserving to the public their right of way, in this deed. 

Moses Wells sold Smith several lots in 1773.'- Jacob Smith 
bequeathed his large estate to the three sons of his kinsman, 
Adam Smith, Josluia, Asa and Bemsley.^ It included "two man- 
sion houses," with barn, etc.'' 

Joshua received the farm which he bequeathed in turn to his 
son Joshua, and he to his son Charles, whose widow and family 
still retain it. Asa Smith came into possession of the part now 
owned and occupied by Mr. John Burnham. He sold Hepzibah 
Day, wife of John Day Jr., twenty acres, " at the corner of a stone 
wall and road or way leading to Cogswell's farm, near the southerly 
end of the house lately the property of Adam Smith, deceased."^ 
This establishes the pedigree of the old house, still standing 
under its rugged old tree, now owned by Mr. Asa R. Brown. It 
was built by Stephen Smith, who bought the land in 1742, and 
was bequeathed to his sons, Adam and Zebulon.^ The house it- 
self with a small piece of land was sold to John Day Jr. by Asa 
Smith, by a deed of the same date as above.''' The eastern or 
northeastern part of the old Tilton farm, which was sold to Daniel, 
came into the possession of David Tilton, and at his decease, Ab- 
ner Day bought the interest of several heirs. 

The deed of Zebulon and Asa Smith to Abner Day of one 
undivided fourth part of the widow's thirds of the estate of David 
Tilton describes the westerly end of the dwelling house, with the 
close or orchard before the barn, the forefield containing three and 
three-fourths acres, " also the herbage in the lane leading to Fox 
Point lane, from the road to the house," Nov. 5, 1802.^ 

iThe Randall Andrews farm, so called, now owned by Mr. Gardiner A. Brown. 

2 Essex Co. Deeds, 133:231. 

3 Essex Co. Probate Records, 360 : 122. 
< Essex Co. Probate Records, 360:405. 
6 Essex Co. Deeds, 220:74. 

6 Essex Co. Probate Records, 342 : 362. 
' Essex Co. Deeds, 220 : 7.5. 
" Essex Co. Deeds, 171 : .59. 



36 THE OLD ARGILLA ROAD. 

Back of the Caverly farm house is a lane with stoue wall on 
each side, which terminates at a level and sightly spot on the hill- 
side. An immense willow tree stands near an ancient cellar. Here 
stood, within the remembrance of Mr. Aaron Kinsman, a venera- 
ble house, known in his boyhood as the Tilton house. It was the 
old home of the Tiltons, of whom we have been writing. The 
Caverly property then owned by the heirs of Samuel Wainwright, 
son of John Wainwright, was conveyed to John Patch by John 
Winthrop, given by him to Capt. Tristram Brown, who built the 
present house, bought by Mr. David Story, and then by Mr. 
Caverly. It is said that Daniel Webster- frequently came to this 
house for his lodging, while he enjoyed the gunning on beach 
and marshes. 

A little way beyond the by-road to the Sagamore cottages on 
the slope of Sagamore Hill, a bridge crosses the ancient canal. As 
early as 1652 a move was made toward cutting a passage way for 
boats through the marshes, from Ipswich River to the River of 
Chebacco, to avoid the long and sometimes dangerous passage 
by the mouth of the river. In that year the town voted : — 

" Granted Thomas Clark and Reginal Foster, that 
when they shall have cut through a passage from this 
river into Chebacco river, of ten feet wide and soedeepe 
as a lighter may pass through laden, and to make a ford 
and foot-bridge over, that then the town have given unto 
them £10 towards said passage." 

Evidently the canal was not completed, as in 1682 it was 

" Granted to any one of the inhabitants to perfect cutting 
the cut, that comes up to Mr. Eppes' bridge, if they will 
submit to the selectmen yearly the selling of the toll for 
those who pass through and who do not help cut it." 

But still the work was incomplete, and in 1694 it was 

" Granted that such persons of Ipswich as will may have 
liberty to cut the cut through on the hither side of Castle 
Neck; and if any pass through, who do not help do it, 
they shall pay for a passage as the selectmen set the 
price." 

" Whoever Avill cut the cut through the marsh by Mr. 
Eppes sufticient for boats to pass through laden, shall 
have liberty. Such as pay about 5" towards doing it sliall 
l)ass free. Such as pay nothing shall be charged 3d in 
money for a cord of wood or load of hay, or ton of other 
loading." 



THE OLD AROILLA KOAD. 37 

Despite these liberal terms no one seems to have had enterprise 
or capital to complete the work, and it was not till 1820 that a 
stock company was formed, which dug a navigable canal from Fox 
Creek to Chebacco or Essex River. Felt says that SUOO was 
expended, but the tolls on tratBc were sufficient to pay nearly six 
per cent f)U the investment. Much ship timber was brought down 
the Merrimac, through Parker river and the canal for the Essex 
ship yards. 

Felt records the tariff rates :' "• Oak timber seventeen cents and 
pine fourteen cents a ton. Oak sawn stuff of an incli lliick, forty 
cents INI., and of other thicknesses in proportion. Pine sawn stuff 
of one inch thick, thirty cents M. ; hard wood thirty cents and 
pine twenty cents a cord. Hogshead staves seventy-five cents, 
and Itarrel staves forty cents M. Hogshead hoop-poles one dollar, 
and barrel hoop-poles seventy-flive cents M. Clapboards, forty 
cents, and shingles ten cents M. Each light gondola five cents, 
and every ton of loading fifteen cents." 

The ancient cooperage industry and the commerce with tiie 
West Indies, which made business for the old canal, have long 
since disappeared, and the railroad furnishes more expeditious 
means of transport for building material. Only an occasional 
gondola laden with salt hay now floats up the canal with the tide. 

Crossing the bridge we stand on Castle Neck, a broad expanse 
of hills, islands and beaches, picturesque with its sand dunes and 
marshes, in the early times well wooded, a clioice and coveted re- 
gion from the earliest times. 

" At a meetinge laoulden the 5 day of January 1G34 ytt 
was ordered 

" That the Neck of Land wheareuppon the great Hill 
standeth, wch is known by the name of the Castle Hill, 
lyemge on the other side of this River towards the Sea, 
shall reraayne unto the comon use of the Towne forever.'"" 

A few years later there were sundry disquieting rumors to the 
effect that John Winthrop, Jr., was meditating a change of resi- 
dence, and it may have been intended as a lure to keep him loyal 
to the town he had founded that, in 1637 (Jan. 13tli), there was 
" gi-anted to Mr. John "Winthorpe Castle Hill and all the meadow 
and marsh lying within the creeke, provided y he lives in the 
Towne, and that the Towne may have what they shall need for the 
building of a Fort." 

1 History of Ipswicli, p. 54. - Town Records. 



38 THE OLD ARGILLA KOAD. 

Nevertheless, he removed his residence about 1639 apparently 
to Salem, and sold Mr. Samuel Symonds, who had already pur- 
chased the Argilla farm, one hundred acres of the Castle Hill farm 
in 1644, and in August, 1645, the remainder.' The town con- 
tested the validity of the title before the Court, but Mr. Symonds 
retained possession. He sold in tarn to his son-in-law, Daniel 
Epps or Eppes, the whole of Castle Neck, with its " ilands " and 
marshes, some 300 acres, in 1660, Jan. 23d.- Capt. Daniel Kpes 
left no will, and his estate was divided between his sons, Daniel 
the elder, who afterwards removed to Salem and was master of 
the Grammar Scliool and chaplain in the expedition against Port 
Roj'al in 1707, and Major Symonds P^pes. 

Daniel received the homestead called Castle Hill and about 230 
acres of land " Avith ye dwelling house, out-housing, orchard, 
ffences, trees, etc. This was a double share, as he was the first 
born. His brother Symonds, "in consideration of his single share 
of sd Estate and for ye two hundred and sixteen pounds allowed 
him and due from ye estate for nine years service thereon," re- 
ceived " the whole Islands, containing about one hundred acres, 
more or less,"*^ and part of Castle Neck and Wigwam Hill, Feb. 
7, 1693. 

No house was included in the purchase when Capt. Epps bought 
the farm, and the old tradition as to Winthrop's residence in the 
ancient house that is 3'et well remembered must be dismissed as 
unhistoric. Capt. Eppes untloubtedly built the dwelling and made 
his home on the slope of the great Hill. The inventory of his 
estate reveals a well-stocked farm : 

"Neat cattell w^i' hay to wintei them - £104— 0—0 
Horses, mares and colts - - - - 20 — — 

Sheep 10- 0—0 

Swine 12—10—0 

Also Two negroes (one a Creeple) - 30 — — " 

Daniel Epes sold his share of the great farm to his brother, 
Major Symonds Epes, July 15, 1701, for £600."* Major Epes was 
a prominent citizen, colonel of a regiment. Justice of the General 
Sessions Court, and a member of the Governor's Council from 
1724 to 1734. In his fifty-fourth year he married Mary Whipple, 
a maid of only 16 years. He died in 1741, in his seventy-ninth 

1 Ipswich Deeds, 1 : 27. =' Probate Rec, 303 : -216. 

2 Ipswich Deeds, 2: 260. ■• Essex Co. Deeds, 14:187. 



THE OLD AKGILLA ROAD. 39 

year, at the Hamlet, where he seems to have made his residence 
leaving two minor children, Samuel and Elizabeth. His widow 
became the third wife of President Holyoke of Harvard College, 
and died at Cambridge in her ninety-second year, March, 1790.^ 
The whole farm at Castle Neck was bequeathed to his sou Samuel. 
He was a young man of brilliant promise. He had graduated 
from Harvard College at the age of seventeen, aud was elected a 
representative when but twenty-five. He had become a major as 
well in the colonial militia. But he was the victim of consump- 
tion aud died at Cambridge in July, 1760, after a lingering sick- 
ness. He bequeathed £20 to the South Church for communion 
plate, and two of the cups bear his name.- 

In the year before his death he sold the ancestral estate, which 
had been in the possession of the Epes family for three genera- 
tions, and only six years short of a century, to John Patch the 
thii'd.^ He was a worthy successor of the illustrious owners of 
the goodly farm, — a man of large wealth, of great public spirit, a 
devoted patriot and father of a goodly family of thirteen, but one 
of whom was a son. Felt records that he left at his death twelve 
children, seventy-eight grandchildren and twenty-four great-grand- 
children. The patriarchal head of this great family died on Dec. 
18, 1799, in his 79th year, and his venerable widow survived 
until her ninetieth year, dying on Feb. 8, 1812.'* 

Mr. Patch enlarged the great estate by the purchase of seven 
acres at Sagamore Hill, of Thomas Burnham in 1784, and in 1785 
forty acres on Sagamore Hill from John Winthrop, who held the 
property owned by Samuel Wainwright, and inherited by him.-'' 

Several provisions of his will are of especial interest. To his- 
beloved wife Abigail, he gave the improvement of the dwelling^ he 
occupied during the time she should remain his widow. ''I also 
give to my said wife all my household furniture, my horse and 
chaise and one cow, and all the Provisions which shall be in my 
house at the time of my decease. I also give my said wife the 
use of all my silver plate during the term above said, and further, 
I give my said wife ten cords of wood, ninety pounds of cheese, 

1 Felt's Hist, of Ipswich, p. 178. 

2 Felt, Hist, of Ipswicli, p. 180. 

3 Essex Co. Deeds, 108:272. 

* Felt, Hist, of Ipswich, p. 185. 

6 Essex Co. Deeds, 143:115. 

« The house now owned and occupied by Mr. George H. Green. 



40 THE OLD ARGILLA ROAD 

fifty pounds of butter, teu bushels of winter apples, four barrels 
of cyder, two hundred pounds of pork, two hundred pounds of 
beef, fifteen bushels of Indian corn, six bushels of rye, and sixty 
dollars in Cash year by & every year during the Time she shall 
remain my widow (in lieu of her dower in my estate)." 

It was the fashion of the time thus to condition the inheritance 
while the widow remained unmarried, but it was a most unjust and 
unbecoming exercise of authority over a faithful and beloved Avife 
in any case, and singularly exasperating in this, when the wife of 
his youth and the mother of his great family had already attained 
the 76th year of her age when his will was drawn. 

To his son Nehemiah, Mr. Patch gave that part of the farm 
called the Island, with the buildings. This estate passed to his 
son John, and his son John in turn, then into the possession of 
Mr. Aaron Kinsman, b}' whom it was sold to Dr. E. A. Crockett. 

To his daughter, Mary Lakemau, he gave " the lower farm, for- 
merly called Wigwam Hill," and it remains in the hands of her 
heirs still, and has been for many years a famous abiding place 
for summer guests. The Castle Hill farm was apportioned to his 
daughter Itlizabeth, wife of Stephen Choate Jr., to whom he gave 
Pine Island as well. His grandson, Tristram Brown, received the 
Wainwright property, and he built the farm buildings now owned 
and occupied by Mr. J. B. Caverly. Four distinct farms were 
thus carved out of the "' Governor " Patch estate. 

During the Patch ownership, the exciting period of the Revolu- 
tionary War occurred. Realizing the likelihood of an attack by 
sea, a guard of two men was stationed by the Town on the Hill in 
May 1775. A flagstaff was erected, and a beacon, and in case 
of the appearance of the enomy, a flag was to be displayed by 
day and a fire, built of tar and other inflammable material to be 
kindled by night. This precaution may have been due to the Great 
Ipswich Fright of the 21st of April, 1775, which John G. Whittier 
depicts very graphically in his " Miscellanies." A rumor spread 
thi'ough the Town that the British were landing on the beach. As 
the able bodied men had not returned from Lexington, and most 
alarming reports of the cruelty of the British regulars in that en- 
gagement had been noised abroad, the people were panic-struck 
and hurried from their homes in wild disorder. The alarm spread 
from town to town, and the whole eountrj'-side as far as Haverhill 
and the New Hampshire border betook itself to flight. Happily 



THE OLD ARGILLA ROAD. 41 

■there was no fouudation for the rumor. " Governor " Patcli was 
a piivateersman and captured many rich prizes. His son, Nehe- 
miah, was at Ticonderoga, and his descendants still cherish an old 
Queen's arm whicli he picked up on the battlefield, 

Mr. John Patch, the last of the name, in his sketch of the old 
farm in the Antiquarian Papers, i wi-ites that he saw the old Brit- 
ish man-of-war La Hague, which lay outside Ipswich bar for 
nearly a week during the war of 1812. He preserved a four 
pound shot which was tired at the house of his grandfather and 
■other cannon balls, which have been ploughed up in the vicinity 
may have been tired from the same ship. His father " drove his 
cattle to Ring's Island to conceal them, and carried in's silver ware 
to his brother's in Hamilton, expecting every day tlie British 
would land and pillage the place. They did land on Plum Island 
an<l were capturing an ox for a supply of fresh beef, when Bob 
Pitman, a simple-minded fellows houted, " More a comino-, more 
a coming ! Capt. Sutton," and they left the ox upon the shore 
and tied to their boats." 

Stephen Choate Jr., and his wife Elizabeth, sold Castle Hill to 
John Patch Choate,-^ in 1811, and he transferred it two months 
afterwards to Asa Baker and others.3 George Baker, heir of 
Asa, an.l the other owners, Oliver Appletou, John Choate and 
Asa Andrews, sold to James Magee of Boston in 1813.^ Capt 
Magee, as Mr. Patch remembers, made a large and disastrous 
venture m sheep raising, and after mortgaging the property 
heavily, sold to Widow Margaret Magee of Roxbury, in 1814 ? 
who sold in turn to James Baker, in ISlS.e His heirs s.Jd to 
John Baker 3", in 1831-1832.^ In 1843, Mr. Baker sold to 
Manasseh Brown,« and his son, Mr. John Burnham Brown, is the 
present proprietor. 

Mr. Brown has made a large outlay with conspicuous taste, 
upon the buildings and the roads upon his estate. Fine land- 
scape ettects have been secured by the planting of trees and shrub- 
bery, and the view of land and sea from the summit of Castle Hill 
IS impressive and beautiful. The lighthouse, built in 1837, is 
near at hand, and the white beach. Broad lines of breakers dash 

llVr """r; ''.""• ' ''^^'^ Co. Deed., -205:58. 

pf '^ r "■ n "". '• ''' ^ ""• ' ^*««-^ Co. Deeds, 205 : 202. 

HIT ?'• ?'''/■ '''•■ ''• ' ^««^- Co. DeedB 275: 197. 

Essex Co. Deeds, 204 : 134 ; 201 : 1.33. s Essex Co. Deed.. 373 • 82 



42 THE OLD ARGILI.A ROAD. 

upon the bar and the sandy shoals, upon which many a stout ves- 
sel has been wrecked, with precious lives of sailors. Plum Island 
stretches away to the north, where Mt. Agamenticus and the bold 
Boar's Head and the dim Isles of Shoals lie, blue and faint upon 
the horizon. The hills of old Newbury rise beyond the broad ex- 
panse of Great Neck. At our feet, Ipswich River flows out to 
meet the ocean. 

Our survey of the history of this ancient and beautiful road 
reveals a striking permanence of tenure of these goodly farms, 
through the whole length. Generations of the same family have 
spent their lives in honest toil upon the same broad acres. The 
Burnhams, near Rocky Hill, passed their lands from father to son 
for more than two centuries. Mr. J. Farley Kinsman and Mr. 
Horace Brown are of the third generation of successive occupants 
of their farms. Mr. Pelatiah Kinsman bought of the Wain- 
wrights in 1753, and Mr. Aaron Kinsman, his grandson, still occu- 
pies the farm where he was born, ninety-six years ago. Nine 
generations of this line have dwelt in this neighborhood, or in the 
near vicinity. Jacob Smith settled here in 1741 and his descend- 
ants still abide on the same spot, in a substantial dwelling built, 
it is believed, in 1756. The Lakemaus have owned their Beach 
Farm on old Wigwam Hill for a full century. Days, Wellses, 
Fpeses, Cogswells, Bakers, Tiltons, Patches, and Wainwrights 
tarried here for scores of years. These families were bound to- 
gether by frequent intermarriages, and formed a compact neigh- 
borhood of New England Puritans. 

For a century and a half, they have been identified almost with- 
out exception, with the South Parish. " A pew- in Dr. Dana's 
meeting-house," is a frequent item in the inventories of their 
estates. Sunday after Sunday, in the good old times, with their 
buxom sons and daughters, a numerous and sturdy brood, they 
filled the square pews in the bare, cold meeting-house. No car- 
riage was big enough to carry such families as these. We seem 
to see a motley procession winding its way up the long road, 
some on horseback with good wives ridiug on the pillions behind, 
some in ancient chaises, or rumbling farm wagons, and not a few, 
young and active, trudging afoot. 

All shared the same round of endless toil. On the smooth 
fields, there were prodigies of strength and skill, where the ranks 
of mowers flung their scythes and pressed their leader hard. With- 



THE OLD ARGILLA ROAD. 43^ 

in the low-roofed dwelliugs, spinning wheels hummed and heavy 
looms boomed, and by and by, long webs of fine linen lay bleach- 
ing on the grass, or rolls of heavy woolen were ready to be 
fashioned into warm suits and heavy coats. There was much nice 
dairy work and not a few forgotten industries. The same thrifty 
economy was practised, for there were times, wliich the oldest 
remember, when a load of hay vvas bartered for a barrel of flour. 
Holidays were few. Training days summoned the young men to 
the ranks of the militia in the spring, and the whole admiring 
population greeted them on the Training-fields, and a half day on 
the Fourth of July broke the hot round of summer toil. Yet there 
were neighborhood frolics, no doubt, apple-bees and corn huskiugs 
and all manner of ancient merry-makings, wherewith old-fashioned 
boys and girls, and young men and maidens beguiled themselves, 
and generous Thanksgiving feasts, Avhen the great families gath- 
ered and the air was redolent with savory odors escaping from 
the great farm kitchens. The raising of a new house or barn was 
an occasion of great good cheer. The good wives quilted the 
cunningly contrived patch-work in company, and went helpfully 
to each other's houses in time of sickness or death, or in any 
family emergency. A wedding day, or birth or funeral was an 
event of great magnitude, in which all had common interest. 

This simple, sturdy, kindly life hallows these old dwellings, and 
these farms, older than the present dwellings. The less vivid 
but more august memories of the old Argilla men are interwoven 
with the later and simpler remembrances, and lend much dignity. 
We are reminded, as we pass up and down, of AYinthrop, alert 
and enterprising, of Symonds, so genial and gentle in his love for 
the Indians that he wrote he "could go singing to his grave," if 
they could only be won to Christ, — a large and saintly figure of 
the olden time — of Saltonstall, conscious of his dignity and hon- 
ored of all; of Denison, the military leader of the Colony, always 
fussy and important ; of Mr. "Ward, sober and troubled with many 
cares ; of Mr. Rogers, prosperous and well favored in worldly 
things; and Mr. Hubbard, scholarly but unpractical, harassed by 
creditors and pecked at by servants. 

Thus our old road serves not only as a useful and pleasant 
thoroughfare, but affords much food for thought, and inspiring re- 
membrances of an honorable past as we wend our way. 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE IPSWICH 





X. 






THE 




HOTEL CLUNY OF A NEW 


ENGLAND 




VILLAGE 






By Sylvester Baxter 






AND 




AN 


OLD IPSWICH HOUSE 




BY W. H. DOWNES 





Satcm fttii'. 

The Salem Press Co., Salhm, Mass. 

1901. 



PbR LIGATIONS OF THE IPSWICH 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

X. 



THE 

HOTEL CLUNY OF A NEW ENGLAND 
VILLAGE 



By Sylvester Baxter, 



AND 



AN OLD IPSWICH HOUSE 

By W. H. Downes. 



WITH 

The History of the House 

AND 
PROCEEDINGS AT THE ANNUAL MEETING DEC. 3, 1900. 



Salem press : 

The Salem Press Co.. Salem. Mass 

1901. 






p. 

Author. 
23F'04 



THE HOTEL CLUNY OF A NEW ENGLAND 
VILLAGE.i 



BY SYLVESTER BAXTER. 



The extraordinary production and huge circulation of 
the historical novel is but one of the consequences of the 
remarkable growth of the " patriotic societies " in this 
country in the past few years — societies like those of the 
Sons and the Daughters of the Revolution, the Colonial 
Dames, and the like. One of the most admirable results 
of the movement is the widespread interest in the estab- 
lishment of local historical societies, particularly in the 
old towns of New England. These historical societies 
have a very interesting and even fascinating work before 
them : the collection and preservation of all manner of 
local records, the looking-up of spots of historical interest, 
the preservation of interesting old buildings, and the 
marking of historic sites with commemorative tablets, 
besides the study and discussion of both local and general 
history. In the average New England town the soil 
proves gratifyingly fertile in these fields and the delving 
therein bears rich fruit in the development of interest in 
and love for the community, the heightening of civic feel- 
ing, the encouragement of local improvements, and a care 
for the future of the town as well as an interest in the 
town's past. 

In not a few places the local historical society has done 
a most excellent thing by taking some fine or quaint old 
house for its headquarters, fitting it up after old fashions, 
and adorning it with attractive historical collections. Such 

Reprinted by the kind permission of tlie Publishers, from " The Georgian 
Period," Part VII, issued by the " American Architect & Building News" Co., 
Boston, 1900. 

(1) 



Z THE HOTEL CLUNY OF A NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE. 

a collection on a large scale is that of the Bostonian Society^ 
to which the city long ago gave the free use of the pictur- 
esque Old State-house, above the ground-floor, and has 
converted the old-time halls of legislation in the carefully 
restored building into a rich museum of all manner of 
antiquities relating to the history of Boston. Medford is 
a fine Colonial town with a goodly number of stately old 
dwellings. One of these, the Cradock House, built in 
the year 1632 for Governor Cradock of the Massachusetts 
Bay Colony — who never came over from England to oc- 
cupy it — is reputed to be the oldest dwelling in the orig- 
inal portion of the United States. Singular enough, this 
has very lately been established to be not the picturesque 
brick house that has long gone by that name and which is a 
very close reproduction of a typical English farm-house, but 
is identical with what is known as the " Garrison House," 
in the centre of the city, still occupied as a very comfort- 
able and prosperous looking dwelling. The highly active 
Medford Historical Society — a member of which un- 
earthed in London the map and other documents that 
attested this important fact — had once endeavored to 
secure for its headquarters the fine old Royall House with 
its extensive grounds, a particularly imposing mansion of 
pre-Revolutionary days, but the owners would not part 
with it. Its use, however, was secured as the scene of a 
notable historical festival given by the Society, a few 
years ago. The Society thereupon contented itself with 
more modest quarters, but most attractively and appro- 
priately fitted up, in the shape of the old-fashioned house 
that has an historical interest in American literature, and 
in the anti-slavery movement, as the birthplace of Lydia 
Maria Child. 

In certain respects, however, the most notable accom- 
plishment in this direction is the work of the Ipswich His- 
torical Society in the restoration of an ancient dwelling 
to its primitive condition as it existed in the primal days 
of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This work has been 
done with such fidelity, such fine appreciation and under- 
standing, and the house, with its collections, is intrinsi- 
cally so full of interest, that it deserves wide celebrity, 
both as an example of what might be accomplished in not 



THK HOTEL CLUNY OF A NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE. 3 

a few other pluces, iind as one of the most interestincr 
sights for visitors to New Enghind. ® 

For the latter, the quaint old town of Ipswich is in it- 
self well worth going far to see. Although one of the 
most travelled lines of railway on the continent passes 
through it, the heautifiil old town has preserved its ancient 
charms in a sort of isolation amidst the wide levels of the 
vast saltmarshes that spread l)ef()re it. The clear Ipswich 
River rambles gently down from the inland hills, and 
here, 111 the heart of the town, tumbles in falls down to 
the tidal level, thence meandering through the marshes 
to the sea, whence vessels come and go "at the wharves 
that were once the scenes of a lively commerce in the days 
when all the coast-ports were havens for maritime adven- 
turings. Skirting the river are the quiet winding streets, 
shaded by great elms and bordered by many°tine old 
houses. Just over the town there rises the noble drumlin 
shape of Heartbreak Hill like a gigantic billow— celebrated 
in a poem by the late Celia Thaxter— that tenderly records 
the legend of the Indian maiden who, from its summit, 
daily looked in vain for the coming of her lover. It is 
true that, upon a last-century map of the town, the desicr- 
nation of '' Hard Brick Hill " is inscribed. But good au- 
thority declares this to be a prosaic and ignorant corrup- 
tion of the original name. 

The charms of the town itself and the loveliness of the 
environing landscape make Ipswich a favorite resort for 
artists through the summer. The scenery is that which 
Mr. J. Appleton Brown loves to paint, pastoral and idyl- 
lic, with Its rolling uplands, its tranquil waters and 'its 
placid marshes that enter in among the hills in mysterious 
tree-fringed bays and coves. Artists come hither by the 
score to feast upon the beauty of the countryside. And 
Ipswich is the home of two painters of national repute, 
xVIr. Arthur W. Dow, whose birthplace it is and who has 
found here many of his strikingly original themes; and 
Mr. Iheodore Wendell, whose wife is a daughter of the 
town. 

It would be difficult to arrange a more delightful excur- 
sion for a summer-day, than to start out early in the morn- 
ing from Boston on a trolley-trip to Ipswich by way of 



4 THE HOTEL CLUNY OF A NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE. 

Lynn and Salem ; and through the diversified scenery of 
Essex County, arriving in time to inspect the old Whipple 
House, and then, after lunclieon, taking the little steam- 
boat that plies between Ipswich and Newburyport twice a 
day upon a fascinating voyage down the river and by the 
inside route through Plum Island Sound, whose quiet 
waters, shallow and variegated with delicate shadings of 
green and blue, are sheltered from the tossing Atlantic by 
the long and narrow insular barrier of sand-dunes. From 
Newburyport a train will bring one back to Boston in an 
hour or so. Or, one may extend the dav's pleasuring by 
taking another steamer up the Merrimac, Whittier's beau- 
tiful river, and there find a train for Boston. 

The Hotel Ciuny, as all know, is a magnificent old 
French chateau preserved exactly as in the ancient days, 
and filled with a priceless collection of objects representa- 
tive of the life of its day. It sets an exami)le of what may 
wisely be done with fine old buildings elsewhere — though 
the example may more wisely be bettered by a better ar- 
rangement and classification of the collections shown there- 
in than has been eftected at the Hotel Chmy. It is a far 
cry, of course, from the superb Parisian chiUeau, and the 
splendors for which it stands, to the austere Puritan age 
and land when our mighty country was all one frontier, 
facinof the ocean on one side and the savage wilderness on 
the other, with a meao;re fringe of settlements. But the 
Whipple House, of Ipswich, like the Hotel Cluny, of 
Paris, represents the best of its day, and it stands as, 
probably, the most faithful reproduction yet achieved of 
the home environment of the primitive Colonial life of 
New England in the days when our ancestors, with their 
stern beliefs, their hafsh moralities, their appalling super- 
stitions, might be regarded as little more than barbarians, 
when measured by the standards of to-day. 

The visitor to Ipswich l)y train finds the Whipple House 
just across the way from the station, towards which its 
low walled back is turned in accordance with the ancient 
rule that faced all houses to the south when standing de- 
tached. Venerably homely, in the truest sense of the 
word, and restored to its original aspect as carefully as 
the most scholarly research and the most scrupulous 



THE HOTEL CLUNY OF A NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE. 5 

adherence to ascertained facts can make it possible, it is 
certainly one of the most notable old houses in the United 
States. The simple beauty of its setting is in striking 
harmony with its character. This environment, indeed, 
is doubtless less austere than that of the house in its prim- 
itive days. But in its quaint charm it reproduces the ef- 
fect of the grounds of the Colonial mansion at their best, 
a century later; grounds such as this house may then well 
have possessed. And a work of this character and public 
importance, truly monumental in intention, demands sur- 
roundings that betoken the esteem in which it is held. 

When the work was undertaken it seemed an heroic 
task to eliect creditable results from the conditions into 
which the house and its vicinage had fallen from their once 
high estate. The structure was shabl)y and dilapidated 
with misuse, and mutilated by various successive recon- 
structions, while its surroundings were of the depressingly 
squalid character that so frequently obtains in the neigh- 
borhood of a railway, even in a good old rural town. But 
intelligence and energy soon radically changed the face 
of things. The head and front of the Ipswich Historical 
Society is its president, the Rev. T. Frank Waters, pastor 
of the South Congregational Church, and throwing him- 
self into the work with heart and soul, the ancient house 
seemed to resume its proper guise as if under the touch 
of magic. As the investigations necessary to the required 
repairs proceeded, the original state and shape of the 
building were gradually revealed sufficiently to afford a 
sure guidance in the work of restoration. This work, 
however, could not possibly have been so complete, had 
not the mechanics employed given themselves to the work 
with an enthusiastic devotion. And the existence among 
these of names like Sullivan and Thibedeau, besides names 
savoring of the soil, like Choate, Goditt and Lord, show 
how completely the late-coming elements assimilate them- 
selves to the New England spirit of the best old commu- 
nities. Mr. Thibedeau, for instance, though employed as 
a carpenter, was specially commended by the committee 
in charge for his wonderful patience and persistence in 
giving weeks of hard and painstaking toil to scraping and 
scrubbing the woodwork, alw^ays standing in perfect read- 



6 THE HOTEL CLUNY OF A NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE. 

iness to do anything however far removed from his natural 
province. It is particuhirly gratifying to note these facts, 
testifying to the persistence of the old spirit of the artisan 
who finds pleasure in his work, when so much is said now- 
adays about the decline of the modern mechanic and his 
departure from old-time standards. But in this instance, 
with the good old New England " fiiculty " guiding tlie 
work, from the highest to the lowest, and practically the 
whole community showing the deepest interest, the ends 
were achieved with astonishing economy and completeness. 
The sum of $1,650 purchased the place, and an expendi- 
ture of oidy a little more than a thousand dollars accom- 
plished ti)is commendalile work of restoration and created 
one of the finest historical monuments in the country, a 
perfect specimen of the seventeenth-century architecture 
of New England. 

In the course of restoration all the decayed spots were 
cut out of the ancient beams and new wood was skilfully 
inserted, the exterior was newly clapboarded and shingled 
— clapboards, it seems, preceded shingles as a covering 
for outside walls ; diamond-paned windows, low and broad, 
replaced the perpendicular and narrow ones that an ugly 
later fashion had given the house, and a coat of dark stain 
restored the exterior fully to its old-time aspect. 

Within, comparatively modern changes had much sub- 
divided the four great rooms into which the main part of 
the house was originally divided. All the partitions were 
removed and the rooms were restored to their old shape. 
When the plaster ceilings were torn away the original 
floor-joists of hewn oak were revealed, with the original 
plastering between them. The big beams and the joists 
were carefully scrape'd and oiled, and the contrast between 
their rich brown hue and the white of the plaster between 
them gave to the large rooms with their very low ceilings 
— which a person of average height can easily touch with 
his hand — an appearance that is picturesque, and at the 
same time is dignified with the air of old-lime stateliness. 
As the president said in his report at the first annual meet- 
ing of the Society, celebrating the achievement of one of 
its prime declared objects in " the preservation of and 
finishing in Colonial style of one of the ancient dwelling- 



THE HOTEL CLUNY OF A NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE. 7 

houses of said Ipswich " : " the size and quality of these 
superb oak-beams, their finely-finished moulded edo:es, the 
substantial oak floor joists, the great posts, with their es- 
cutcheons so laboriously wrought, the noble size of these 
four great rooms, proclaim that this was a home of wealth 
and refinement, and make it easy for us to believe that it 
was the finest mansion of the town." 

The work of restoration required patience, thoroughness 
and delicacy. All the woodwork had to be lal)oriously 
and carefully scoured to remove the grime and whitewash 
with which it was coated in layer after layer. The proc- 
ess of reconstruction was fascinating to follow in its rev- 
elation of the peculiarities of ancient methods of house- 
building. The spaces between the studs, from sill to plate, 
were found filled-in with brickwork, and this was pre- 
served so far as possible. In one of the chambers, the 
manner of this construction is exhibited by means of a 
plate of glass set into the wall and framed with the care 
that might be shown for a treasured old master. The places 
where the handsome old windows were were shown with 
exactness, and their restoration proved one of the most 
eflfective features of the house, bringing it closer into rela- 
tion with its models across the sea, where the same form 
of window is to-day in common use. It was of course easy 
to disclose the iireplaces that had been shut in to allow the 
substitution of the ugly and economical stove. But these 
were small fireplaces of comparatively modern date, nest- 
ing within the enormous originals — the latter so well pre- 
served that it was an easy matter to restore them in all 
their completeness. Much of the old plastering was so 
perfect that it did not have to be touched. And, by way 
of experiment, for a deal of the new work made necessary 
to rephice the old plastering, the ancient fashion of mak- 
ing a compound of clay, sand and salt hay was tried with 
entire success. 

Exactly how old the house is has not yet been ascer- 
tained. But it certainly dates back to the middle of the 
seventeenth century, and possibly a house that stood on 
the place when its sale to Mr. John Whipple, an eminent 
man of Ipswich, was completed by a quitclaim deed from 
John Fawne in the year 1650, may have formed a portion 



8 THE HOTEL CLUNY OF A NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE. 

of it. Mr. John Whipple had been living on the spot since 
1642 at least. 

The Whipple House in its present shape is a growth 
formed by successive enlargements made in the course of 
a considerable number of years. In its original shape it 
apparently consisted of what is now the western half of the 
main portion. First the house was doubled in size and 
then two successive additions were made in the rear, giv- 
ing it the long sloping roof on the north side so charac- 
teristic of many old farmhouses. In its present shape, 
therefore, the house in its very old portion comprises four 
remarkably large rooms, two on the ground-floor and two 
above, each with a fireplace big enough to contain great 
logs of wood. In the adaptation of the house to the uses 
of the Historical Society, and its conversion into what 
may be called a museum of the ancient New England 
home, each of these four rooms, with its collections, has 
been given a typical character. 

First and chief of these comes the "hall" in the great 
east room. This is by no means the hall of the eighteenth- 
century Colonial mansion — the spacious entrance-room, 
with its stately staircase, running through the centre of 
the house. Here the front door is likewise in the middle, 
but a tall man must stoop to enter, and keep stooping 
while in the diminutive entry, where a steep and narrow 
flight of stairs twists itself upward besides the gigantic 
chimney-stack that shows how its original size was doubled 
when the house was. In New England, as in Old, the hall 
was the common gathering-place of the family — the place 
where the meals were cooked and eaten, where the spin- 
ning and weaving were done, where the household came 
together to enjoy the heat and the light of the enormous 
fire on the health beneath a chimney which, as Mr. Waters 
tells us, was ample enough to allow boys on mischief bent 
to drop a live calf from the roof, as they did one night 
into poor old Mark Quilter's kitchen. It was often a 
scene of much jollity, we may believe, for the Puritans 
could not always and universally have maintained their 
traditional austerity. And the room was so spacious that 
we may be sure that it invited to no little frolicsomeness 
among the young folks, and we may even fancy that at 



THE HOTEL CLUNY OF A NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE. 9 

times the floor was cleared for a bouncing good dance. 
So the place was a "hall" in the amplest sense of the 
word. It was not until a much later date that the room 
became exclusively a kitchen. And our Irish fellow-citi- 
zen, even though he may have rolled up wealth in city 
contracts, is but perpetuating the traditions ot the baro- 
nial hall when he insists on spending his home hours sit- 
ting by the kitchen-stove in his shirt-sleeves, with clay- 
pipe in mouth. 

The beautiful old hall of the Whipple house is a fasci- 
nating gallery of the quaint utensils ot domestic and indus- 
trial use in the old-time New England home — everything 
that entered into kitchen-service, barn-service, field-ser- 
vice, spinning, weaving, etc., beside various other things 
whose purposes the most patient research, the most ingen- 
ious conjecture, have not yet been able to discover. We 
laugh at the clumsiness of certain of these utensils, but 
we are compelled to admire the simple way in which many 
others met the needs of the time. Clever examples of 
Yankee, or pre- Yankee, ingenuity are some of these 
things: for instance, the " cradle-churn," where the milk 
was contained in a long, trough-like receptacle mounted 
lengthwise on rockers. As the house- wife and others 
went about their domestic tasks they would give it a touch 
in passing. This was sufficient to keep it going, and so 
the butter was made without any a[)preciable eflfort. 

In the corner of the large west room there remained a 
fine old buffet as a relic of the olden days. This sug- 
gested the wainscoting of the room with some handsome 
panelling taken from an old house in the town, the Rogers 
Manse, built in 1728, and given to the Historical Society 
by the owner. Over the mantle a quaint painted panel, 
representing a panoramic view of Ipswich town from the 
river, with Jeffries Neck in the background, and the 
water enlivened with old-fashioned shipping, was inserted. 
The woodwork was painted white, making a typical eight- 
eenth-century room of it. This is appropriately used for 
the exhibition of old china and crockery, silver, etc., old- 
fashioned musical instruments, a collection of rare old 
books, pamphlets and manuscripts, and many other inter- 
esting things. 



10 THE HOTEL CLUNY OF A NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE. 

The east chamber has been (itted up after the fashion 
of an old-style "best room," enriched with many beautiful 
old curios of historic value. The interest taken in the old 
house brought to the collections in these three rooms an 
extraordinary number of antiquities, given or loaned not 
only by the peoi)le of Ipswich, but by friends throughout 
Essex County and in many other parts of the country. 

The west chamber was made the room of the resident 
care-taker. It was a piece of good fortune for the Society 
to secuie for this responsible position a latly of the expe- 
rience and capacity of Miss Alice A. Gray, curator of the 
Department of Textiles in the Boston Museum of Fine 
Arts, and a niece of the famous botanist, the late Prof. 
Asa Gray. It was equally a pleasure for Miss Gray to 
make her home in an ideal old-fashioned house and to su- 
pervise the arrangement of its fascinating collections. 
This chamber has been fitted up as a typical old-style 
''best chamber" — a special addition to the attractions of 
the house. The rear portion of the house was, moreover, 
converted into a charming apartment for herself and her 
housekeeper ; a cosy suite with a delightful air of old- 
fashioned comfort unobtrusively reinforced by the modern 
conveniences without which life in a house of the kind 
would be a i)astime that a child of the nineteenth century 
would soon weary of. An attractive feature of this suite 
is the row of snug little chambers with slant ceilings 
under the roof on the second iloor. 

A sort of thorn in the flesh for the Historical Society, 
after the completion of its task, was the uncomfortable 
proximity of a most disreputable-looking old tenement- 
house on the rear side, between the ancient mansion and 
the rail way- track. But one day Miss Gray had a visit 
from a Boston friend, a lady whose means enable her to 
follow her natural inclination to do all sorts of good deeds. 
The visitor was thoroughly delighted with what had been 
accomplished, and within a few days Miss Gray received 
from her a check for $1800 to enable the Society to com- 
plete its work by giving its home a suitable environ- 
ment through getting rid of the adjacent eyesore. With 
this money the tenement house was purchased and demol- 
ished, and a new old-fashioned garden was laid out on its 



THE HOTEL CLUNV OF A NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE. 11 

site, and about the ancient dwelling : a gay multitude of 
the blooms cherished by our mothers, our grandmothers, 
our great grandmothers, and losing no favor in the eyes 
of ourselves or our children, assemble their gladsome mot- 
ley before the sober gray of the ancient walls ; a box-bor- 
dered walk leading up to the caretaker's door past a hand- 
some sun-dial of stone ; a well with its old-time sweep at 
the side of the house. These touches made the whole 
complete. 



FROM AN ARTICLE WITH THE CAPTION, '' AN 

OLD IPSWICH HOUSE" BY MR. W. H. 

DOWNES. 

(In The Boston Evening Transcript, Saturday, Octoker 7. 1899.) 

The old house bought by the Ipswich Historical Society 
about a year ago is the best surviving example in New 
England of the earliest seventeenth-century colonial archi- 
tecture. There are several finer and grander specimens 
of the domestic architecture of later periods in Essex 
County, but in all the category of colonial houses there is 
no such perfectly preserved and authentic type of the 
domestic architecture of the middle of the seventeenth 
century. The exact date of its erection is unknown, but 
ail the valid evidence available, in the absence of documen- 
tary records bearing directly on this point, indicates that 
it w^as built as early as 1650, and there are architects who 
believe that it was erected still earlier. The extreme 
rarity of houses dating from that remote period, so soon 
after the settlement of Massachusetts, is due primarily to 
the limited longevity of wooden building, and secondarily 
to the fact that the colonists were at first obliged by the 
paucity of proper building materials to erect only tempo- 
rary cabins of logs, which were subsequently abandoned 
and neglected, after more comfortable dwellings were 
made possible by the establishment of saw-mills and 
forges and roads. Ipswich was settled in 1633. The 
first saw-mill in the town was established in 1649. The 
great posts and girders, with other surviving timbers of 
the frame of the old house in question, bear no marks of 
the axe or the adze, and it would be a fair inference that 
they were sawed, though not necessarily by water power, 
for we know that some extensive sawing was done by 
hand in sawpits. 

(12) 



"an old IPSWICH HOUSE." 13 

. . There are three or four successive parts or chapters 
in the serial story of the old house. The west end of the 
main structure was built first ; of this there is evidence in 
the material, the workmanship, the age of the woodwork, 
and in indirect, but convincing written evidence. The 
main beams of the frame — the posts, sills, girders, joists, 
rafters, etc. — in this wing are of American larch or 
tamarack, a soft wood, which, however, has shown aston- 
ishing durability in every part except where it has been 
exposed to moisture. The east part of the main structure, 
the second chapter, was possibly added in the time of the 
affluent and pious Captain John Whipple, the second of 
that name, who, in 1683, was estimated to be "worth" 
$16,570. In this part of the house the main beams are 
of oak, and the posts and girders are carved with some 
attempt at elegance of finish. Later a lean-to was added, 
the rafters on the north (rear) side of the roof being sup- 
plemented by a new set of rafters at an easier angle, 
carrying the roof at one point almost to the ground. 
Whether the lean-to was entirely built at one time, or in 
two sections, is unknown and is not of importance. The 
lean-to is a relatively modern part, and the original pro- 
file of the exterior must have been very angular and high- 
shouldered in proportion to its ground area. 

Now, here are the more interesting dimensions of the 
building, as it stands. Length, on the ground, fifty feet ; 
width, thirty-six feet. Great east room, ground floor, 
twenty-four by seventeen and one-half feet ; height seven 
feet. Fireplace in this room, seven feet and three inches 
wide ; two feet, nine inches deep. Dimensions of oak 
girders, fourteen by fourteen inches. Windows, diamond 
panes, and hung on hinges, five feet, three inches wide, 
and two feet, six inches high ; three sashes each ; should 
be leaded glass. East chamber, same measurements as 
east room below. Fireplace in this room, six feet two 
inches wide, and two feet two inches deep. These figures 
may mean but little to the layman, but they are full of 
significance to the architect, the builder, and the antiqua- 
rian. The exterior of the Whipple house has nothing in 
its aspect that would serve to draw especial attention to 
it ; but the interior possesses these two distinct points of 
architectural merit, remarkable massiveness of construe- 



14 "an old IPSWICH HOUSE." 

tion, and fine, dignified proportions. The two main 
rooms on the ground floor are in fact superb for their 
simplicity, size and solidity. The beautiful rich brown 
tone of the old oak posts, girders and joists gives the key 
of color. There is a white plastered ceiling between the 
joists, the pUister being put directly on the floor-boards of 
the second story. . . . 

One thing is evident, to any visitor who stands in the 
great east room, and contemplates the stately propor- 
tions of the interior ; that is, that the Whipples must 
have been great swells in their day, to possess such a 
mansion. Indeed, no further proof of their status, so far 
as means are concerned, is needed than is furnished by 
the entertaining inventory of Captain John Whipple's 
estate in 1683, with its painful particularity, itemizing 
each separate article of household use, apparel, tools, 
edibles, beverages, and even " Lawrence ye Indian," who 
was valued at four pounds, a sum which seems inexpen- 
sive, even where the supply of Indians exceeded the 
demand. It is enough to make collectors' mouths water 
to run over this list of old furniture, silverware, pewter, 
china, arms, andirons, brasses, coppers, gallipots, buc- 
kles and buttons, "kittles," warming-pans, trenchers, 
candlesticks, "tin lanthorns," beakers, flagons, "basons," 
piggins, "sully bub" pots, spinning wheels, and a score 
of other things, more or less phonetically spelled, after 
the excellent fashion of the epoch, when, as George Eliot 
remarks, spelling was mostly a matter of taste. 

The first John Whipple, whose estate was inventoried 
in 1669, was not nearly so well off" as his son afterwards 
became, though he had a farm of about 360 acres of land, 
worth $750, and houses and lands in the town, worth 
$1250, with $45 worth of "apparell," $35 worth of 
" fieather beds," $6.75 worth of "chayres," and $12 worth 
of " bookes." 

Speaking of books, the Ipswich Historical Society has 
in its custody, in the west room of the old house, the 
most unmitigatedly pious lot of old books I ever saw. 
They come from the Religious Society in Ipswich, and 
the visitor may while away long hours in reading such 
light literature as Jonathan Edwards' " Sinners in the 
Hands of an Angry God" (Salem, 1786), Increase 



"an old IPSWICH HOUSE." 15 

Mather's " Angelac:raphia" (Boston, 1696), or "The Lov- 
ing Invitation of Christ to the Aged, Middle-Aged, Youth 
and Children, from the moutli of Elizabeth Osborn, only 
Three Years and Nine Months Old." The collection of 
books, manuscripts, autographs, etc., displayed in this 
room embraces a copy of tlie Breeches Bible (1615) ; an 
autograph letter from John Winthrop, Jr., founder of 
Ipswich (1634) ; an inventory of the household goods in 
Winthrop's house in Ipswich ; several old petitions, 
deeds, wills, and other Colonial and Revolutionary docu- 
ments of interest. On rainy days, when the outside 
world is dark and dismal, and the time hangs heavy on 
one's hands, it will be consoling for the people who like 
that sort of thing to sit down and run through Owen's 
work on "Indwelling Sin," Baxter's "Call to the Uncon- 
verted," Woodward's " Fair Warning," Crawford's "Dying 
Shots," the account of "Count Struensee's Conversion," 
Cooper on "Predestination," Edwards on "Original Sin," 
Shepard's " Sound Believer," Langdon on " The Revela- 
tion," Coleman's "Parable of the Ten Virgins," Webb's 
"Direction for Conversion," Bellamy's "Glory of the 
Gospel," Dittou on "The Resurrection," Doddridge on 
"Regeneration," or Stoddard's "Safety of Appearing in 
ye Righteousness of Christ." But, though the theology 
of these stalwart Calvinists may seem a bit inflexible and 
unlovely to modern eyes, what they did not know about 
setting up a title-page was not worth knowing. As 
religionists they were of their day, took their creeds 
straight and hot, and their rum ditto ; but they were first- 
rate printers ! 

The house is a veritable museum of seventeenth- and 
eighteenth-century relics and curios. There is a buffet 
full of old china in the west room which contains some 
very rare and choice pieces. The andirons in this room 
are cast-iron figures of Hessians, in grenadier caps, picked 
out with gilt. The iron fire-back is dated 1693. The 
andirons in the east room are dated 1596. The great 
east room is fitted up as a kitchen. The fire burns on the 
hearth as of yore, and the spacious fireplace is fully 
equipped with ancient cooking utensils. Huge pewter 
platters and obsolete fire-arms adorn the walls. The 
spinning wheels, cheese press and churns are in their 



16 "an old IPSWICH HOUSE." 

places. Here we find the yam reels, the great winnow- 
ing fan, the old cradle, foot-stove, candle-mould, candle- 
sticks, nice pieces of old needlework, samplers, old lamps, 
pewter porringers, tinder-boxes, trivets, lanthorns, tram- 
mels, till kitchens with spits, etc., and a highly interesting 
collection of old fm-niture. In the west room are the cabi- 
net of old china, snndry heirlooms, an ancient piano, 
antique chairs and pictures. The paintings comprise a 
smoky old panel depicting the harbor of Ipswich, in which 
the vessels tly the British flag, showing that it was painted 
prior to the revolution, and a life-size bust portrait of 
Whitefield, anonymous, and somewhat queer about the 
eyes. Whitefield preached in Ipswich, and he did so to 
such good efieet that Satan fled through the meeting- 
house window, leaving on the window-ledge the print of 
his cloven hoof. Mr. Waters may not believe this, but 
it is just as true as some other local traditions. 

. . . "The old mansion," says President Waters, in a 
passage of retrospect which shows how sympathetic is his 
vein of fancy, " is a constant reminder of all the glorious 
names which hallow and illumine the early years of our 
town life, — Saltonstall and Winthrop, Symonds and 
Denison, Ward and Norton and Hubbard and all the rest. 
They were all friends of the Elder. Every one of them 
may have crossed our threshold. As we sit here in the 
flickering firelight we seem to see them sitting, as of old, 
and conversing on the great themes. . . . The old 
pavement in the dooryard rings again with the hoof beats 
of Ca[)tain Whipple's horse hurrying to lead his troopers 
on a swift ride to Andover to repel an Indian assault. 
John Appleton and Thomas French are talking in this 
very room of their imprisonment and trial for advocating 
resistance to the royal governor's edict and demanding 
representation before they would submit to taxation. 
Colonel Hodgkins and Colonel Wade and Major Burnham 
smoke and sip their steaming cups and chat of Bunker 
Hill and Yorktown, of Burgoyne and Cornwallis, Wash- 
ington and Lafayette." And he evokes a vision of the 
ancient life, its feasts, weddings, funerals, departures and 
home-comings, its daily toil, and all the lights and shad- 
ows of the remote Puritan home life, that revives the far- 
off" days with a singular and touching reality. 



THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 



BY THOMAS FRANKLIN WATERS. 



{Reprinted from Number VI of the Publications of the Ipswich 
Historical Society.) 

At the annual meeting of the Ipswich Historical Society 
on December 6, 1897, the President's Eepoit called the 
attention of the Society to the ancient house near the 
depot, commonly known as the Saltonstall house, as an 
hiteresting local relic of the remote past, an admirable 
type of an early style of architecture, too valuable to be 
allowed to fall into utter ruin, and an ideal home for the 
Society. A committee of inspection was appointed, and 
a thorough examination of the house was made. It was 
found that notwithstanding the decayed condition of the 
exterior, the interior was well preserved, and of such 
phenomenal attractiveness that the work of repair and res- 
toration, while extensive and costly, was well worth un- 
dertaking. The owner, Mr. James W. Bond, was willing 
to sell, and the committee reported favorably to the project. 

In May, 1898, after some preliminary canvass for fnnds 
had been made, the Society voted to purchase the property, 
and a committee of five was appointed to repair and re- 
store the house, as it seemed best to them. The work 
was begun as soon as the transfer of the title to the desig- 
nated trustees was accomplished, and was pushed as 
rapidly as possible through the summer. On Wednesday, 
Oct. 19, the work of repairing and restoration being well 
completed, the Society dedicated its new home. 

As a specimen of seventeenth-century architecture, this 
house is an object of just pride. The size and quality of 
these superb oak beams, their finely finished moulded 
edges, the substantial oak floor joists, the great posts with 

^ (17) 



18 THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 

their escutcheons so laboriously wrought, the noble size 
of these four great rooms, prochiini that this was a home 
of wealth and refinement, and make it easy for us to be- 
lieve that it was the finest mansion of the town. Many 
ancient houses have disappeared, but the most tenacious 
memory of the oldest inhabitant cannot recall such 
strength and elaborate finish as we find here. So far as 
I am familiar with the oldest houses now remaining, none 
can compare with this for a moment. 

The question of its age is constantly raised, by town- 
folk and stranger alike. The other question of its owner- 
ship is still vigorously argued. 1 think I can do no better 
service at this time than tell the story as I have been able 
to discover it, by long and careful and repeated research. 

Many remember Mr. Abraham Bond, the father of Mr. 
Jas. W. Bond, from whom our Society purchased the 
property. He bought the house and about an acre of 
land of Caleb K. Aloore, October 7, 1841 (Essex Co. 
Deeds, 327 :157) and made his home here for the remain- 
der of his life. Mr. James W. Bond remembers that in 
his boyhood, the floor joists were exposed as we see them 
now, but fashion decreed that a more modern style was 
to be preferred, and vandal hands chipped and hacked the 
venerable timbers, nailed laths upon them, and covered 
them from sight with very commonplace plastering. The 
old fireplace in the kitchen in the leanto was bricked up 
within his remembrance, and the latest addition on the 
northwest corner was built. 

Mr. Moore had purchased the house with an acre and 
eleven rods of land from Mr. Nathaniel Wade and others, 
heirs of the estate of Col. Joseph Hodgkins, in 1833, 
October 31st(E88ex Co. Deeds, 271 :164). This was only 
half of the Hodgkins estate, however, and on Aug. 11, 
1841, the heirs sold the balance of the property, measur- 
ing an acre and eleven rods, to James Estes. As the deed 
describes it, this piece of land extended down Winter 
street, to the liarn and land of Joseph Farley, now occu- 
pied by the buildings of the Ipswich Mill, followed the 
line of the Farley land to the river, extended along the 
river bank to the Samuel Wade property, and followed 
this line to Moore's boundar}' line. The Hodgkins prop- 



THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 19 

erty thus extended from the main road to Topsfield to the 
river, and measured two acres and twenty-two rods 
(Essex Co. Deeds, 326 :215). 

Colonel Hodgkins had married for his third wife, Mrs. 
Lydia Treadwell, relict of Elisha Treadwell and daughter 
of Dea. John Crocker. Her brother, Joseph, at his death 
owned and occupied the house, and the other heirs sold 
their interest to her husband. The original deed of sale, 
bearing date of May 16, 1813, is before me as I write, 
conveying to Colonel Hodgkins five-sixths of the estate for 
$750. One chamber was reserved to the unmarried sister, 
Elizabeth Crocker, who occupied it by the express pro- 
vision of her fjither's will drawn in 1804. The deed still 
reserves to Elizabeth " the great chamber in the west end 
of the house, with the privilege of going in and out at 
the front door, and a right to use the entry way and stairs 
in common, and a right to bake in the oven in the north- 
easterly room, to go to and from the well, and a privilege 
in the cellar to put and keep so much cider, vegetables 
and other necessaries sufficient for her own use, also lib- 
erty to pass and repass to and from the ydrd at the south- 
west end of said house, and to keep therein the wood for 
her own use, said reservations to continue so long as she 
shall remain single and unmarried, as expressed in the 
last will and testament of said John Crocker deceased." 
Miss Sarah Wade, the granddaughter of Colonel Hodgkins, 
is very sure that he did not take up his residence ni the 
old mansion until 1818, and she tells me that her father 
built on the pantry, which now serves as the hallway of 
the caretaker's tenement, in that year, to increase the con- 
venience of that portion of the house. Miss Wade, then 
a smart slip of a nine-year-old girl , was often at the house 
and has vivid recollection of her honored grandfather and 
his home. He was then 75 years old, with thin hair 
which was gathered into a queue, a very tall man with 
strongly marked Roman nose. How the venerable soldier 
must have bowed himself under these low doorways ! 
His residence gives much character to our mansion. He 
had served as lieutenant in the Ipswich Company of Min- 
ute Men at Bunker Hill, and had fought at the battles on 
Long Island, at Harlem Heights, White Plains and 



20 THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 

Princeton, and was at Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga. 
To his last days, he would have his pewter plate, which 
was kept with the platters on a high shelf in the kitchen. 
The dark passage-way from the kitchen to the bed room 
served as a cheese room. The room we have occupied as 
our kitchen was the parlor, and the onl}'^ carpet in the 
house covered the floor. Some roundabout chairs, and a 
pair of great brass andirons were included in the parlor 
furnishings, and a quaint colored English print of the 
Countess of Suffolk's h(nise near Twickenham, published 
in 1749, hung on the wall, and is now owned by Miss 
Wade. The west room was the family sitting room, and 
in this room the old Revolutionary soldier died, lying in 
an old press bed in the centre of the room on Sept. 25, 
1829. 

Upstairs Miss Polly Crafts made her home in the East 
chamber, and worked at her loom, weaving. Through 
these rooms, the lively young Sarah roamed, turning over 
the hourglasses, peering into the great fireplaces and look- 
ing up their black throats to see the stars, and scamper- 
ing down across the garden to the old malt-house, on the 
site of the mill storehouse, to pick the wild roses that 
bloomed there in profusion. She slept in the little bed- 
room that opened from the West Lower Room, the night 
her grandfather died : and she remembers distinctly that 
the window in that room was diamond paned and opened 
like a door. Her brother, Mr, Francis H. Wade, remem- 
bers a window of the same style in the front gable end. 
Following this clew, we have made all our windows with 
diamond glass. 

Mrs. Hodgkins, as was said, was the daughter of Dea. 
John Crocker. That excellent man disposed of his 
worldly goods in his will as follows : 

In the name of God Amen. I John Crocker of Ipswich in the 

County of Essex as to my worldly goods and estate, [I] 

give, demise and dispose of the same as follows — viz. 

Imprimis. I give and devise to my son Joseph his heirs & assigns 
forever, my malt house and about one acre of land adjoining with the 

■well and drane leading to said malt house, also a desk that 

his mother brought to me when we were married. 

Item. I give and bequeath to my daughter Elizabeth, the great 
Chamber in the west end of my dwelling house so long as she shall 
remain single and unmarried. I also give her a case of drawers and 



THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 21 

a cliest with two drawers, which was her mother's. I also give an4 
bequeath to my said daugliter, Eliz. one cow and two sheep, such as 
she shall choose, to be winterd and summerd for her by my son 
John, and also sixty dollars in money. Item. I give and bequeath to 
my daughter Mehitabel Appleton, sixty dollars in money. Item. I 
give to my son-in-law Thomas Appleton a note of hand I have against 
him dated April 28, 1795. 

Item. I give and bequeath to my daughter Lydia Treadwell, sixty 
dollars in money. Item. I give to my grandson Thomas Wade and 
Samuel Wade thirty dollars each. Item. I give and bequeath to my 
grand daughters Mary Waldron and Abigail Waldron, thirty dollars 
each. I give and bequeath to my son-in-law, Edward Waldron, at my 
decease, my great Bible. Item. I give and bequeath to my daughter 
Elizabeth, one feather bed and bedding which her mother brought to 
me, when I married her. Item. I give and bequeath to my three 
daughters and to my grand-children, children of my Daughters, Mary 
and Hannah, deceased, the whole of my household goods (excepting 
my silver tankard) to be equally divided between them. 

I give to my daughters aforenamed and my aforesaid grandchildren, 
at my decease, all my books to be divided in same manner as I have 
ordered my household goods to be divided. Item. I give and devise 
to my son Joseph and to my daughter Elizabeth, and to their heirs and 
assigns in equal shares, my Pew in the South Meeting House in this 
town. Item. I give to my sons John and Joseph all my wearing 
apparel and farming utensils to be equally divided between them. 
Item. I give and devise to my son -Tolin and to his heirs and assigns 
forever all my buildings and lands, excepting such parts of my build- 
ings and lands as I have before given to my son Joseph and my daugh- 
ter Elizabeth. I give and bequeath to my said son, all my stock of 
cattle and sheep, all my notes of hand, my silver Tankard, and all the 
rest and residue of my estate. 

May 3, 1804. 

(Essex Co. Probate Records 374 : 9 : 10.) 

An inventory and appraisement of the estate of Deacon John Crocker 
late of Ipswich (Probate Records 374 : 81). 

In the West lower room 
a clock $1G 1 looks glass $B one desk !$5 29.00 

a settee $3 black M'alnut table 4 foot, .$2.50 5.50 

writing desk $1 small round table $1, light stand 30 cts 

stands candlestk 1.25 3.55 

one great chair and G small ditto viol back $3.50 1 round 

table $1.25 4.75 

one small chair turkey worked 33cts hand iron, shovel & 

tongs $2.50 2.83 

one feather bed, bolster and pillows $23, bedstead sacking 

bottom $2 25.00 

curtains $1.50 3 blankets $4.50 calico quilt $2 8.00 

tea salver $1.25 great Bible $4 other books & paphts $6.00 11.25 
2 pair small scales & weights 80 cts hearth brush 25c 1.05 

Westerly bed room. 1 bed, bolster & pillows $27 under 
bed & bedstead $2.75 29.75 

2 blankets 82 2 do .^3 1 bed quilt $2 1 coverlet $2 13 pr 

sheets $22.75 31.75 

10 pair pillow cases $3.07 table cloths $4.75 12 napkins 

$1.75 9.50 



22 THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 

East room. 3 leathd chairs $1.80 round chair & cushion 

$1 2.50 

four old chairs 67cts, small looking glass $1 1.67 

pair small handirons 50 ct small table 12 ct .62 

East bed room, underbed, bedstead & cord $1.25 3 cover- 
lets $3.75 5.00 
two blankets $2 1 pair sheets $2 linen wheel &, reel $1 5.00 
tinpail 33cts scales & weights 50cts wearing apparel $25 25.83 
32 ounces silver plate $32.42 half dozen tea spoons $2.50 34.92 
1 pair shoe & knee buckles $3 set gold buttons $3.50 6.50 

West chamber. 1 case drawers $1.50 one ditto faneerd $7 8.50 
six leath'd chairs $2.50 one great ditto $3, small cane 

backd $1 6.50 

bed, bolster & pillows $22 under bed, bedstead & cord $3 25.00 

curtains & valions $3 one pair sheets $2.50 5.50 



289.97 

one blanket $1.50 coverlet $1 bed quilt $2.00 4.50 
small pair hand irons 60 ct. 1 maple table $1 small looking 

glass .25 1.75 

In the East chamber. 1 bed, bolster, & 1 pillow $25, under 

bed, bed std & cord $2.50 27.50 

3 blankets $3.25 three bed quilts $4 7.25 

square oak table 50cts. old chest and fire screen 75ct 1.25 

flaxcomb $1. iron-jack 75c 1.75 

In the kitchen 1 brass kettle $3 one brass pan $2 5.00 

Pewter $9, handirons $2.50 shovel & tongs $1 12.50 

gridiron 50 cts candlesticks 50 toasting iron 50 1.50 

1 pr brass candlesticks $1 iron and tin ware $6 7.00 

bell metal skillet 30cts brass skillet $1 1.30 

tin ware $1.75 warming pan $1.00 pr bellows 25ct 3.00 

earthen ware & glass bottles $2 case with bottles $1.50 3.60 

crockery ware & glass ditto $3 3 tables $1.75 4.75 

a mortar 2 coflee mills tlesh fork, skimer and skewers 2.00 

3 iron bread pans $1 3 chests $1.50 meal chest 50 3.00 

kitchen chairs $1.50 old cask & tubs $2.50 50 lb. salt pork $8 12.00 

cheese press $1.25 two spits $1.25 pails $1 3.50 

John Crocker disposed of this property to his brother 
Joseph (though I find no record of the transaction), who 
seems to have owned little of this world's goods, apart from 
the ancestral mansion. The inventory of his estate is brief; 

Inventory of the estate of Joseph Crocker, malster : 

House and barn and malt-house, with other buildings & land 900.00 
1 blue coat $3.00 1 blue surtout coat $2.50 1 blue grate 

coat $3.50 9.00 
1 black waist coat $1 2 green waist coats $1 2 pair small 

cloths woolen and drawers .$2 4.00 
1 pair kersey meer small cloths 50 cts 1 pair nankin jacket 

and breeches $1 1.50 
1 pair cotton and linen trowsers $1. 8 shirts $6.50 8 pair 

of hose $3.50 11.00 



THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 23 

1 pr leather gloves 12 cts. 2 silk aud one linen handkerchief 

$1.75 1-87 

3 pr. old trowsers 75 cts 2 frocks $1. 2 pair of boots $3.75 

2 pair of shoes $1.50 7.00 

2 felt hats 60 cts. 1 gun, bayonet & snap sack and cartridge 

box $5 5.60 

1 gun & cartridge box, and 2 powder horns §2 live bare 

cleaned 60 cts 2.60 

In the return of the administrator of Joseph Crocker, 
in March 1814, we find the items 

five sixths of dwelling house and land sold to Joseph Hodg- 

kins Esq. 750.00 

to paid John Crocker 621.38 

Deacon John received the estate by inheritance from 
hi."* father, Benjamin Crocker, a man of excellent quality. 
He was graduated from Harvard College in 1713, was 
Represen'tative in 1726, 1734, 1736, taught the Grammar 
School many years, and often preached. He made his 
will after the pious fashion of his day and devised his 
property as follows : 

AVILL OF BENJAMIN CROCKER. 

In the name of God, Amen. April 9, 1766. 

I Benjamin Crocker, of Ipswich in County of Essex, in New Eng- 
land, being in Health of Body and Mind & Memory (thro the Favour 
of Almighty God,) i!i calling to Mind the Uncertainty of Life and Cer- 
tainty of Death, Do make and Ordain this my last Will aud Testament, 
and Principally and above all I recommend my Soul into the Hands of 
God, Thro Jesus Christ, hoping for his sake and Righteousness to find 
acceptance with God at the great Day of his Appearing ; and my Body 
to decent Christian Burial : and touching such worldly Estate as God 
been pleased to bestow upon me, I give and dispose of the same in 
Manner following, viz. — 

Imprimis. I give to my Avell beloved wife Elizabeth fourteen 
pounds, and all that estate which she brought with her to me upon 
our Marriage; provided aud on Condition she shall acquit all her 
Right or Claim and Interest in & to all the rest of my estate. 

Item. I give to my daughter, Mary Gunnison, the two best silver 
spoons, Avhich, with what I gave her at her Marriage, together with 
what she held of land, which she had of laud Avhich she and her 
Brother sold to Charles Tuttle after her Marriage, which I account of 
a sufficient Fart of my Estate. (The particulars of which I have set 
down in a Pocket Book in mj' Desk.) 

Item. I give all the rest of my Estate both real and personal of 
what Nature soever to my son John Crocker, after my Debts and 
funeral Charges are paid by my said Son. Ben.jajiin Crocker. 

(Probate Records 343 :481.) 

Mary Crocker, the first wife of Benjamin, received the 
property from her father, Major John Whipple. No 



24 THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 

record of sale, gift or inheritance from her remains, but 
the identity of the property is indisputable as will appear 
from our subsequent study of adjoining estates. 

The will of Major John Whipple, Crocker's father-in- 
law, is of much interest and I append it in full. 

WILL OF MAJOR JOHN WHIPPLE. 

In the name of God Amen. The thirtieth day of August 1722. I 
John Whipple, of Ipswich, In the County of Essex in New England, 
being sick & weak of Body but of perfect Mind c& Memory, Thanks be 
Given to God therefore. Calling to Mind y"^ Mortality of my Body & 
knowing y' Is Appointed for all Men Once to Dye Doe make and Or- 
daine This my Last Will & Testament; that Is to say principally & 
first of all I Give and recommend my Soul Into the hands of God that 
Gave it, and my Body I Recomend to ye Earth to be buryed in a Decent 
& Christian Buriall att ye Discretion of my Exec, nothing Doubting 
but att ye Genii Resurrection I shall receive the same againe by ye 
Almighty power of God ; and as touching such AYorldly Estate where- 
with It hath pleased God to bless in Tliis Life, I Give, Demise & Dis- 
pose of the same in the following Manner or Forme. 

Impr. I give to my Daughter Mary Crocker & To the Heirs of her 
Body Lawfully begotten my now Dwelling House & Homestead with 
all the building upon the same. Also I give to my Daughter Crocker 
all ye furniture both of the parlour and Parlour cliamber also one Bed 
More such as shee shall Chuse with all ye furniture to ye same belong- 
ing, also Three pair of Sheets, Two Large Table Cloths & Two Smaller 
Ones & Two Dozen of Napkins, also I give unto my Daughter Crocker 
all the utensills of y Kitciieu & Leantoe & also ray two Neb oxen & 
all my utensills for husbandry, also One old Common Right & my 
Negro Man & Two Cowes. 

Item. I give to my son-in-law Benj. Crocker my and foul- 
ing piece. 

Item. I give to my Grandson, W'" Brown, my pistolls and holsters. 

It. I give to my Granddaughter, Martha Brown, forty pounds. 

It. I give to Daughter Rogers my Negroe Woman Hannah. 

It. I give to my Grandson, John Rogers, twenty pounds and after 
all my Lawful debts and all y'' above Legacies & my funerall Charges 
are all payd, the whole of my Estate Avhich sliall then remaine Both 
real and personal. Bills, Bonds, Whatsoever to be honestly apprized 
& Equally Divided between my Three daughters, Martha, Mary & 
Susannah. [Probate Records 313 : 458.] 

INVENTORY. [313 : 555] 

Wareing apperell £30 Book 80s Bills and Bonds £182- 

U-6 horse & mare etc £112 328 14 6 

coAvs, steers, hefl'ers & calves £47 9s Household stuff in 

y^ Hall £1G 14s 64 3 

Household goods in y bedroom below £2 5s in y« bed 

room above 90s 6 15 

In the Kitchen Chamber £7 8s Sheets, Pillow beers, 

Napkins, Table cloths, Towells 196s 17 4 



THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 25 

12 yds Liiinin Cloth 40s 12 yds Drngfit 40s 20 yds Cot- 
ton & Liiiuin 40s old Curtain Cs 6 6 

2 blankets, 2 Coverlids, 1 Kugg, 60s 1 Reel 10s Linnin 

& Worsted yarn 38s 5 8 

-wool 10s Cotton MooU 30s bottles 20s 2 sadles 96s 12 

bar"^"^ 24s 2 tubbs 6s M 6 

5 swine 100s Calash & Tackling 40s Slay 18s 7 18 

an old saw mill standing on Ipswich River with y? apur- 
teuances belonging to y'" mill without y<^ priviledge 
of y streem 15 

An addition of the Parsonall Estate of John Whipple Esq. taken 

April 17th, 1723, 

One silver headed Cain 35s one walnut staft" with silver 

head 13s 2 8 

one old Desk 3s pr Cards Is 4d 1 Knife and fork 2s 

about 50 Gro. buttons old 6s 12 4 

1 pr sheers 6d 1 old press? 18s 1 pine chest 4s 1 Table 

4s 1 Do 2s 2 old Chairs Is 1 pr stillards 5s 14 6 

When the Rev. John Rogers receipted for his son's leg- 
acy, as his guardian, it is recorded that it was in accoid- 
ance with the will of" Major John Whipple." It is im- 
portant that every clew however slight to the successive 
generations of Whipples be noted, as we enter now a be- 
wildering maze of John Whipple, Captain John, Major 
John, Cornet John, Elder John, John Senior, etc., through 
which it is very difficult to thread our way. 

This will of Major Whipple drawn in 1722 contains one 
item of note in determining the age of different portions 
of the house. It mentions the " kitchen & Leanto." One 
addition, at least, had been n)ade piior to this date ; but 
whether it was the very small leanto that seems to have 
been built on the northeast corner, or the larger and later 
addition that provided a new kitchen, we cannot deter- 
mine, I incline to the former hypothesis, as there is men- 
tion of only four rooms in the will and inventory. Two 
slaves are included in his estate, a negro man, who was 
given to Dame Crocker, and Hannah, who became the 
property of the minister's wife, Mrs. John Rogers. We 
are glad that she was a person of sufficient note to be men- 
tioned by name. The humble black man, who was sand- 
wiched in between "an old common right" and "Two 
Cowes," is mentioned only as a chattel. 

Major John Whipple was the eldest son of Captain John 
Whipple Senior, who made his will in 1683. The will is 
of value, and is inserted in full. The inventory, which 



26 THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 

follows, is minute and is published in a ver}'- slightly 
abridged form. 

THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF CAPT. JOHN WHIPPLE 
SEN. OF IPSWICH. 

I, John Whipple Sen of Ipswich, having not settled my estate be- 
fore in case of death do thus order the estate which God hath gra- 
ciously given me. Inprimis my will is yt Elizabeth, my well beloved 
wife, shall enjoy one lialfe of my dwelling house so long as shee sliall 
see cause to live therein, and if my exccul" shall provide her y" going 
of a cow or two, with y** use of an horse for her occasions during yt 
time : And my will further is yt my execut" shall pay or cause to be 
paid unto her fifteen pounds by y" year, besides w' is already men- 
tioned during y« time of her naturall Life. Item, my will is yt my 
daughf Susan Lane shall have y" portion w''^ slie hath already Re- 
ceived (which I judge to be about seaventy pound) made up an hun- 
dred and fifty pounds, in like specie as before. I will also that my sd 
daughter shall have y'' remainder of her portion paid her within three 
years after my decease, my will likewise is. that my youngest 
daughter Sarah Whipple shall be brought up witli her mother (if shee 
be willing thereunto) and my executors to allow her w' maintenance 
is necessary thereunto, & to have likewise an hundred and fifty 
pounds for her portion at the time of her marriage, or "vvhen she 
comes to one and twenty years of age. Concerning my three sons, it 
was my intent y' if my estate were divided into five parts y* my eldest 
son should enjoy two fifth parts thereof, y=^ other three to be left for 
y« other three viz. Matthew, Joseph & Sarah. But apprehending that 
I am not like to escape this sicknesse, I thus dispose concerning the 
same, viz. I Avill that my son John and my sou Matthew sliall be 
execuf'* of this my last will & testament for y" present & .y' my son 
Joseph sliall be joyiied as an execuf w'"^ them two, as soon as ever he 
comes to be of age. And then my Will is that if my son John enjoys 
all y« Lands, houses, buildings & appurtenances, and Priviledges 
thereunto belonging where he now livfs together with y Land in y^ 
hands of Artliur Abbot to be Added thereunto: And that my son 
Matthew eiijoyes y*" Lands, houses, wliere he now lives, the appurte- 
nances &privilednes w"> y"^ saw mill & y^ Land in y^' tenure of Fennell 
Ross, y' tlien my son Joseph when he comes of Age shall enjoy y« houses, 
buildings, Malting office, w"^ y'' other Lands, pasture, Arable & meadow 
where I now live as his right of Inheritance & portion, to him and his 
heires forever, pi'ovided y* my son John do help him to order & man- 
age y*^ same till he himselfe conies of Age. And also my will is that 
then he pay an hundred pound out of his estate to his sister Sarah, 
and y*^ rest of her and her sister Susan's portion to be paid out of y^ 
Debts and otlier chattels which are found l)eloiigiiig to my estate. 
But if my two elder sons be not satisfied with this Distriliution of my 
Reall estate, my wall is y' my whole estate (Avith w^liat is in my son 
John's and Matthew's hands already of houses and lands) lioth reall 
and personal be equally divided by indirterent Apprizall into five parts, 
and if then my eldest son shall have two fifths thereof, ray sou Mat- 
thew another tif tli, and if Joseph shall have another fifth and y' y*^ last 
fifth shall be improved to pa}' debts and other Legacies and y' w' ever 
land falls to any of my three sons shall be to them and their Heires 



THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 27 

forever. lu Avitness whereof I have set to ray hand & scale this second 
of August 1683. 

John Whipple. 

my will also is y* if my two sons, John & Mat- 
thew choose to enjoy y« f armes y' then J"o shall 
also have y" ten acres of marsh by Quilters & JOHN WHIPPLE 
Matthew as much of my marsh in y*^ Hundreds 
to them and their Heires forever excepting y^ 
marsh in y« Island w^'' may be sold to pay debts. 

signed, sealed & Delivered in presence of us 

William Hubbard 
Samuel Phillips 
Daniel Epps 
[Probate Records 304 : 10.] 

An Inventory of the Estate of Captaine John Whipple of Ipswich, 
taken by us whose names are underwritten the tenth of Septemb"^ 
1683 
Impr* His wearing Apparell, Woollen & Linnen prized at 

£27 18s 
It. A feather Bed & Bolste'^ £5 curt"« vallins, coverl'^ all 

of searge £12 
It. A Diaper tablecloth at £2 5s a shorter Diaper table 

cloth £1 2s 6d 
It. An old cupboard cloeth 2s Lesser cupboard cloeth 5s 

towells 4s 
It. Three Pillow Beeres 9s 9 Diaper napkins 13s 6d 8 

napkins 7s 
It. Turkey worke for chairs & fringe & cloeth to make 

them £3 5s 
It. Linsy woolsey cloeth 12s 3d a Remnant of Broad 

cloth Gs a yd Kersey 8s 
It. Fine cloth to bottom chairs £3 13s cushions 9s a 

chest of drawers £2 15s 
It. Two cushion stooles at 6s a great chaire 5s Brass 

cob Irons £1 5s 
It. A looking glass 10s two wicker baskets 5s gloves 

3s four chairs £1 12s 
It. Two bolsters £1 5s coverlid £1 a blanket & sheet £1 
It. A Bedstead & cover 16s 6 fine wrought chairs £2 8s 
It. Three Leather chairs 9s fring chaire 6s a great 

chair 6s 

It. Fine Stool fringe 6s cushions 4s (covered) 

It. A fine wrought form & stoole 7s brass fire pan tongs 

& snuffers 
It. Two pair of iron tongs & a warming pan 12s a case 

of knives 5s 
It. PistoUs, holsters & Belt £2 15s one cushen and mat 

7s 
It. Brush & Broomes 2s 3 Pictures 3s a Book of 

Maps 5s 
It. Thirteen napkins & towells 10s a course table cloth 

IDs 
It. T^'o old table-cloths two tOAvells & two cheese cloth 

6s 



27 


18 


17 





3 


7 6 




11 


1 


9 6 


3 


5 


1 


6 3 


6 


17 


1 


16 


2 


10 


3 


5 


3 


4 


1 


1 


1 


3 




17 


3 


2 




10 


1 







6 



28 THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 

It. Three sheets 18s one sheet 8s one pair of sheets 16s 
It. One pair of fine sheets £1 5s an old pair 6s old 

Books 2s 
It. Two course pillow beers 3s three bolster cases 7s 3 

pillow beers 1 sheet 
It. One sheet 12s 6d old sheet 4s another 4s one 

sheet 8s 
It. A sheet & Bolster case 3s 6d a Pillow case & drawers 

2s 
It. A yellow silk scarfe 12s an old yellow scarf 10s 
It. A yardi fine holand 15s Kemn'^ of hoi"''' 3s yarns, 

thread tape 7s 
It. One chest 6s a Rapeyer & Belt £1 13s a cutlas 15s 

a Rapeyer 10s 
It. Files and sawes 3s chissells, jjouges, gimblets 3s 8d 
It. Three pair of sheares 4s 6d two locks 2s one 

anger Is 
It. One auger Is a span shackle & pin 2s old Iron & 

stirrup irons 6s 
It. Two old Bills Is whissells 3s Basket & Gloves 3s 
It. A Basket & yarne 3s scales & lead weights 12s 
It. A compas 2s a file Is A Razor & hone 3s Box & 

old iron 2s 6d 
It. A great Bible 16s in Books £5 8s 9d 5 Bottles of 

syrrup of clove gilly fl 
It. Tliree bottles of Rosewater 6s two Bottles of mint 

water 3s 
It. A Glass Bottle of Port wine 2s Angelica water sir- 

rup of gilli flw'"'' strawberry water 3 Bottles 4s 3 

pint Bottles a great Glass 4s 
It. Three greate Gaily Pots w"» w' was in them 4s 2 

earthen chamber pots, etc 
It. A Box Drawers, two peicesof twine £1 2s a bag 

with sugar Is 6d 
It. Spurs and wyer Is 6d 2 caynes 2s croaper and a 

girdle Is 3d 
It. A Bedstead and cover above and below curtains and 

vallance £2 6d 
It. A cupboard with small things in it £2 3d A deske 

and drawer.* 12s 
It. A small Box Is a brush and a stock to do limmes Is 

6d 
It. Seaven dishes of white earthen ware one Bason and 

a sully bub pot 16s 
It. One glass slick stone earthen porrenger and pot 3s 

2 flower pots Is 
It. eight cushens £1 10s table 10s great chair 4s 3 

small chaires 6s 
It. To a great chaire 4s window curtain Is 6d part of 

a Buriing cloth 8s 
It. Forty cheeses £5 an apple trough 6s two powder- 
ing tubs 6s 6d Lether 2s 
It. Three beer Barrells 8s a great glass Is a powder- 
ing tub 5s and old tubs 4s 
It. Two andirons 14s churn 4s firkin w*** 4 lb of butter 

£1 5s— 



2 


2 




13 




5 




8 6 




5 6 




2 




5 


3 


4 




6 8 




7 6 




9 





7 





15 





8 6 


7 


8 9 




9 




10 




10 


1 


3 6 





4 9 


2 


6 


2 


15 





2 6 





16 





4 


2 


10 





13 6 


5 


14 6 




18 


2 


3 



THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 29 

It. Two earthen pots 2s 4 pound caudles 2s 8d a hand 

jack Is 2d 2 p'' scales gaily pot 10 5 

It. The best pewter 77 lb £7 14s 10 lb more of pewter 

£1 old pewter 151b £1 candlesticks £1 10 14 

It. a Bed pan 9s two basons 8s four old candlesticks 

9s 5 salt sellers 5s one more 2s 113 

It. Two Basons & 4 Pottingers one beaker 9s 6 new 

pottingers 7s 6d a pottinger 4s 10 6 

It. Two pint pots 6s flagon 14s 2 quart pots 6s 16 

It. Two old chamb"" pots 10s 4 lb old pewter & a 3 qt 

bason 9s cop'' pot 6s tin-ware 6s tin? 1 11 

It. PlateonebowleV £3 threespoons £1 10s silver cup 

10s pair buttons 2s 6d three pair buttons 3s one 

buckle Is a pair of shoe buckles 6s 3 dozen of plate 

buttons £1 6 12 6 

It. a still with Instrum'' belonging £1 10s tin lanthorn 

Is beams for scales & weights 2 10 

It. a Box iron 4s a smoothing iron Is a brass copp'"'' 

£7 a great Brass pan £2 14s 9 19 

It. Two small brass pans £1 12s 6d old copper kittle 15s 

a brass kittle £1 5s 3 12 6 

It. Two small brass skillets 6s 2 small brass Ladles & 

one skimmer 4s 6d 10 6 

It. A brass bason 4 s skillet 5s a little brass kettle 7s 

skillet 4s 10 

It. "Wool combs w''' belongs to them 16s a brass chafeing 

dish 3s 19 

It. Two bell mettle pots one £2 5s y*' other £1 5s an 

iron kettle 8s & lit' iron pot 4 4 

It. Two dozen of trenchers Is 6d one tray 6 old dishes 

w'h other dishes 3s 4d tAVO piggins Is 6d 16 4 

It. Three cheeshoopes Is earthen Pitcher 3d one payle, 

one piggin & strainer 3s 9d 5 

It. An iron pot & pot-hooks 9s 6d Two tramelsw"^ irons 

to hang upon 12s 116 

It. a pair of bellows, meat forke, augar & gridiron 4s a 

trammel with hooks to it 12s 16 

It. a fowling piece £1 lOs two carbines £2 a jack, 

weight & a spit £2 10 6 

It. a salt box & salt Is two old bibles Is 4 old chairs & 

old joynt stoole 4s 6 

It. a meale trough 6s sives 3s 6d shreding knife Is 

frying pan and marking iron 4s 14 6 

It. a cushion 3s cap&fardingalls Is a kettle & skillet 9s 13 

It. a bed & bedding 15s old spinning wheel 3s an old 

chest 3s 110 

It. The Homestead at towne, dwelling house, kilne & other 

houses 330 

It. a great saddle bridle & breast plate, crouper w"' a 

cover at £3 10s 
It. Pistols, holsters, breastplate crooper & simiter £2 5s 
It. a tramel & slice 6s 
It. two keelers 4 s 

It. Lawrence y« Indian at £4 8 yds crape at 6s 
It. The farme Landes, Arthur Abbots housing & land 
It. Fennel Rosses housing & land 



3 


10 


2 


5 




6 




4 


4 


6 


190 





190 






30 THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 

It. The saw-mill w*" all implements belonging to it 40 

It. John's house & barn & kilne at 140 140 

It. Matthew's house & barn 140 
The total appraisal was £3314. 

It will be noticed that the homestead was apportioned 
to Joseph in the will, but in the final division as it is re- 
corded under date of Oct. 31, 1684, John received "the 
mansion house his father deceased in wth Barn, outhouses, 
Kilne, orchards & homestead wth commonage & privileges 
in and upon Two acres & a half of land be it more or less, 
called ye Homestead in Ipswich Towne " (Book 305 : 
folio 135). 

Captain Whipple's farm lands included the present 
Gardner estate, I judge, in Hamilton. His wealth was 
very unusual in his day, and the appraised value of the 
house with its modest house lot is phenomenal. It was 
valued at £330. 

General Denison's property was inventoried the j^ear 
before, 1682, and his dwelling house was appraised at 
£160 (Ipswich Records 4 :506) . He was a man of wealth 
(£2105), and his house had been built but a few years, 
as his earlier residence had been burned, yet this fine res- 
idence as we may imagine it to have been, was reckoned 
worth less than half as much as Captain Whipple's man- 
sion. 

Deputy Governor Samuel Syraonds died on Oct. 13, 
1678, five years before, leaving an estate of 2534 pounds 
sterling, but his house and about two acres in town, in the 
very centre, were estimated worth only one hundred and 
fifty pounds. 

These valuations confirm me in the belief that Captain 
Whipple's mansion was the grandest in the town or in 
the larger neighborhood. He inherited a comfortable 
fortune from his father, John Whipple, the elder of the 
church. His will and inventory made in the year 1669, 
and indorsed upon the outside " Elder John Whipple " 
are as follows : 

WILL OF JOHN WHIPPLE, SENIOR 1669. 

[Filed, not recorded.] 
In the name of God, Amen. I, John Whipple Senior of Ipswich in 
New England, being iu this present time of perfect understanding 



THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 31 

and memory, though weake iu body, committing my soule into the 
hands of Almighty God, and my body to decent biiryall, in hope of 
Resurrection unto Eternall life by the Merit and power of Jesus 
Christ, my most mercyfuU Saviour and Redeemer, doe thus dispose of 
thetemporall Estate ■w'^^ God hath graciousely given raee. 
Imprimis. I give unto Susanna Worth of Newhery my eldest daugh- 
ter thirty pounds and a silver beer bowle and a silver Avine cup. 
Item. I give unto my daughter Mary Stone twenty pounds and one 

silver wine cup, and a silver dramme cup. 
Item. I give unto ray daughter Sarali Goodhue twenty pounds. And 
all the rest of ray household goods my will is that they be equally 
divided betwixt my three daughters afore sayd. But for their 
other Legacyes my will is that they should be payd them wi"^ln 
two yeares after my decease : and if it should so fall out y' any of 
my daughters above sayd should be taken away by death before 
this time of payment be come, my will is that the Respective Leg- 
acyes be payd to their Heyres when they come of age. Likewise 
I give unto Antony Potter, my son-iu-law sometime, fourty shil- 
lings. 

Moreover I give nnto Jennett my beloved Wife ten pounds which 
my will is yMt should be payd her besides the fourteen pound, 
and y" annuity of six pounds a yeare engaged unto her in the Ar- 
ticles of Agreement before our Marryage. Concerning the four- 
score pound, which is to be Returned backe to her after my de- 
cease, my will is y' it should be payed (both for time and manner 
of Pay) according to y^ sayd Agreement, viz : one third part in 
wheat, Mault and Indian Corne in equall proportions, the other 
two thirds in neat Cattle under seaven yea™ old. Further my will 
is y' no debt should be charged upon my said wife as touching any 
of her daughters, until it be first proved to arise from the account 
of Mercy, Sarah or Mary. 

I do appynt ray loving friends, M'' William Hubbard and Mr. John 
Rogers of Ipswich, the overseers of this my last will and Testa- 
ment, and I doe hereb,y give them power to determine any differ- 
ence y' may arise betwixt my executor, and any of the Legatees, 
aforesayd, about y" payments aforesayd. Lastly I ordayn and Ap- 
poynt my son John Whipple the sole executor of this my last will 
and Testament. To whom I give all the rest of my estate, both 
houses, lands, cattle, Debts from whomsoever due and to his 
heyres forever. 

In confirmation whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seale 
this 10th day of May, 1669. In the presence of 

William Hubbard The marke of 

Robert Day 

The marke of J | | Edward Lummas John 7^ Whipplr 

"This will was presented in court held at Ipswich 28 of 
September, 1669, by the oath of Mr. Wry Hubbard and 
Robert Day to be the last will and testament of Elder 
John Whipple deceased to the best of their knowledge. 
As attest, Robert Lord, cleric." 

"An inventory of the estate of Mr. John Whipple de- 
ceased the 30 of June, 1669." 



32 THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 



Impr. The farme contayning about three hundred 


and 






sixty aci-es 




150 


It. 


The houses and lands in j^e Towne contayning about 






one hundred acres 




250 


It. 


In apparell 




9 


It. 


In linnen 




6 


It. 


A Heather bed with appurtenances 




7 


It. 


In Plate 




6 


It. 


In Pewter 




4 


It. 


In Brasse 




3 10 


It. 


In chayres, cushions, & other small things 




1 7 


It. 


A still 




16 


It. 


Two flock Beds 




1 10 


It. 


Two Tables 




OHO 


It. 


One musquet, one pr of mustard quernes 




15 


It. 


Andirons, firepan & tongs 




U 


It. 


Two mortars, two spitts 




10 


It. 


In Bookes 




2 8 



444 1 
Ipswich July 15th, '69 
EiCHARD Hubbard 
John Appleton 

(The originals are endorsed "Elder John Whipple.") 
" The inventory was delivered in court held at Ipswich 
the 28 of September, 1669, npon the oath of cornett John 
Wiiipple to be a full & true inventory of the estate of his 
fiather, deceased, to the best of his knowledge and if more 
appears afterward it should be added. As attest, 

Robert Lord, Cleric." 

The Elder's estate included the large 360 acre farm 
which had been divided into several by the prosperous 
Cornet and Captain, and other property, entered as 
" houses and lands in ye Towne contayning about one hun- 
dred acres," valued at £250. The two acre homelot and 
homestead were contained in this beyond a doubt, bnt we 
cannot be sure how much else is included. It does not 
seem possible that Captain Whipple's mansion should 
have been identical with the Elder's house. The great 
increase in value within the short period of fourteen years, 
1669-1683, indicates at least a substantial enlargement or 
rel)uilding. This supposition harmonizes perfectly with 
the fact, apparent to every observer, that the eastern half 
of the present edifice was added to the western portion, 
and the elaborate and costly style of the newer work 



THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 33 

presupposes such ample wealth as Captain Whipple pos- 
sessed . 

A very interesting parallel to such an enlargement is 
fouiul in the old Howard or Ringe house, as it is called, 
near the Stone Bridge on Turkey Shore. In William 
Howard's will dated July 23, 1709, he says : 

" Item, I give imto my loving aaid well-beloved wife the use both of 
the old end of my house mansion and of the new end, so far as she 
shall have occasion for during her natural life. 

" Item. I give to my two sons John and Samuel Howard, viz. to 
my son John, the new end of my house mansion which is not yet fully 
finished, with half the stack of chimneys built iu said new end, whicti 
will best serve for the use thereof. 

"Item. I give to my son Samuel my old mansion house and also 
one-half of tlae stack of chimneys built in the new end of said house, 
which will best suit for the accommodation of said mansion house." 

Evidently a considerable change in the chimney of the 
old house was involved, and in our house, it is evident 
that the chimney stack was enlarged when this new por- 
tion was added. The Western half of our house was 
probably therefore Elder Whipple's home, and as the 
fashion of houses was in those days, it was a very good 
and comfortable house, much larger and better than many 
which were built in that period. He acquired the property 
from John Fawne, b}' a deed recorded in the old Ipswich 
books (1 :89), which reads as follows : 

Md. that I, John Fawne, gent, do by these presents, allow, certifle 
& conlirnie, unto Mr. John Whipple his heires and assigns forever, a 
certaine bargaine &sale of an house «&. house lott in Ipswich coiiteining 
by estimation two acres & a half e, more or lesse, formerly sould unto the 
said John Whipple by John Jolly, Samuell Appleton, John Cogswell, 
Robert Muzzey, & Humphrey Broadstreete &doe hereby release all my 
right and title thereunto, as witness my hand & seale, this 10th day of 
October, 1650 John Fawne. 

The original deed is not to be found, and this quit claim 
deed only perfects the title to the property, which was 
purchased by AVhipple from six well-known citizens acting 
in some collective capacity, not yet discoverable. But it 
is of great value as proving Fawne's original ownership. 
But John Whipple was living on this spot in 1642, for in 
that year the town ordered that John Whipple " should 
cause the fence to be made between the house late Cap- 
tain Denison's and the sayd John Whipple, namely on the 
3 



34 THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 

side next Capt. Denison's." But Fawne's occupancy of 
this location had ceased in 1638, inasmuch as in our Town 
Record, it was recorded in 1638, that eight acres had been 
" granted to Samuel Appleton above the Mill, the Town 
Eiver on the South East, the house lot formerly John 
Fawne's North East, and the highway leading into the 
Common, North west." Whipple may have been living 
there at that early period. 

It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that this 
western end of the old mansion may have been erected by 
Mr. Fawne prior to this early date. 

By a singular coincidence, Deputy Governor Symonds, 
who had lately purchased the Argilla Farm, wrote Mr. 
Winthrop in 1637 full instructions as to the kind of a 
house, he wished to be built. 

"I think to make it a girt howse will make it more 
charsreable than neede ; however the side bearers for the 
second story being to be loaden with corne etc. must not 
be pinned on, but rather eyther sett into the studds or 
borne up with false studds &soe tenanted in at the ends." 

The studs of this part of the house extend from the 
sill to the plate, and the " side-bearers " or supports for 
the floor joists are oak i)lanks, some six inches wide, and 
two inches thick, let into the studs and fastened with oak 
pins, after the fashion of the modern "balloon-frame." 

This similarity in construction, coupled with the fact 
that the farm house was to be a substantial two story 
building with garret, " 30 or 35 foote long, 16 or 18 
foote broade," encourages the belief that this part of our 
House was one of the earliest houses, of the better soit, 
built by the first settlers. 

These ancient grants aflbrd us the first links in the chain 
of collateral evidence which confirms our identification of 
the property mentioned in these various wills with our 
mansion and lot. 

Our Town Record mentions that Mr. Fawne had a 
houselot adjoining to Mr. Appleton, six acres near the 
mill. 

Daniel Denison had a house lot, next Mr. Fawne's " to 
come to the scirt of the hill next the swamp." Denison's 
lot is again described as "near the mill, containing al)out 



THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 35 

two acres, which he hath paled in and built an house upon 
it, having Mr. Fawne's house lot on the South west." 

Denison's property included the tract bounded by Mar- 
ket, Winter and Union streets. The Appleton lot was on 
both sides of the Topsiield road, beyond the present rail- 
way crossing. Fawne's land lay between them. As he 
sold only two and a half acres to Whipple the balance of 
his original grant had been sold apparently to Mr. Apple- 
ton as he always appears as the abutter on the western 
side. 

The grant to Denison originally included a lot that 
bounded the Whipple hmd on the southeast, i. e. toward 
the Kiver. This was owned afterwards by John Burnham 
and Anthony Potter. A portion of this original Denison 
grant was owned by Jeremiah Belcher. 

On the occasion of his marriage with Mary Lock wood. 
Belcher conveyed to Mr. Robert Paine, Richard Brown 
of Newbury and Robert Lord of Ipswich, "in behalf of 
the sayd Mary etc." " his now dwelling house with out- 
houses, orchards, yards, gardens & all other the appurte- 
nances and priviledges thereunto belonging, which house 
is scituate, lying & being in Ipswich aforesayd, neare the 
mill on the north side the river, having the said river to- 
ward the southeast, and the land of John Whipple toward 
thenorwest." 30 :7 :1652(Ipswich Deeds, 1 :239). Twelve 
years later, Jeremiah Belcher mortgaged his farm and 
town property to Capt. Geo. Corwin. The dwelling and 
land about it are described as follows : " On the West side 
of the Mill River, having the River on the East side there- 
of, the land of Elder Whipple on the west, and on the 
north, the Towne and mill & bordering southward upon 
the land of Elder Whipple" (Essex Deeds, 2 :92). 

On the 8th of April, 1672, Anthony Potter sold Samuel 
Belcher (son of Jeremiah) a small piece of land, " joyne- 
ing to the houselott of Jeremiah Belcher and bounded 
therewith and with the river on the South and Southwest 
syde, and with the houselott of John AVhipple on the 
Northwest and with the highway on the North East, all 
which piece of land I had of John Burnham" (Ipswich 
Deeds, 3:223). 

On April 20, 1672, the Rev. Samuel Belcher, Pastor on 



36 THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 

the Isle of Shoals, sold to Edward Lumase, in behalf ot 
Richard Saltonstall, Esq. 

"A parcell of ground near unto the mill, for to sett a 
house upon for the milk'r, that shall keepe the n)ills from 
tyme to time, to live and dwell in while he or they shall 
keepe the sa3^d mills," " conteineini:: about six rodds of 
land bounded by a fence of pales toward the West, the 
barne of Jeremiah Belcher toward the South, downe to a 
rocke near the end of the sd. barne toward the East, & 
comon land or highway, where gravell hath beene digged 
towards the North" (Ipswich Deeds, 3 :329). 

This is the only deed which contains the name of Sal- 
tonstall. Before remarking on it, let me add two others. 
Mary Belcher, the widow of Jeremiah, set over to her son 
Samuel, who then resided in Ipswich, "all that houselott 
given & made over to me by way of Jointure on Marriage, 

bounded by y*^ grist mill in Ipswich easterly, Mr. 

John Aiipleton's land Southerl}^ Mr. John Whipple's 
land Northerly, the other part bounded by the wa}^ to sd 
Land or lott, and partly by land granted to Major Den- 
nison, now possessed and built on by Samuel Belcher." 
Novem. 11 :1672 (Essex Deeds 49:251). 

In 1713, Sept. 25, Mr. Sanniel Belcher sold this prop- 
erty to Capt. John Whipple "one halfe acre of Land be 
ye same more or less with y^ house, barn and orchard 

standing thereon bounded northeasterly by a highway 

Leading to y'' mill. Southeasterly by Ipswich Kiver, South- 
westerly by Land of (\)1. John Appleton, Northwesterly 
by Land of y'' above sd Capt. John Whipple." 

(Essex Deeds, 29:61.) 

Comparing these deeds it Avill be seen at once that the 
l)it of land sold to Mr. Saltonstall for the miller's house, 
was only a part of Samuel Belcher's land, and that the 
whole l^elcher property was bounded then, as it had been 
for many years l)y the \Yhipple estate. Apart from that 
a six rod lot is rather small for a mansion like this, though 
it were then only half its present length. 

The old Jerenu'ah Belcher lot reappears in the " Brack- 
enbury lot " which William Brackeubury, of North Caro- 
lina, planter, then in Ipswich, sold to Nath, Farley about 
f acre, which is bounded by John Crocker, the River and 



THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 37 

other land of Farley's. On April 30, 1771 (Essex Deeds 
129 :112), when the heirs of Joseph Crocker sold to Col- 
onel Hotlgkins, the lot was bounded by land of Enoch 
Pearson and Joseph Farley, the river, etc. 

Not a link of any importance is lacking. The direct 
pedigree of the land is through Fawne, the Whipples, and 
the Crockers to Colonel Hodgkins. The a])utting estates 
are always bounded by these owners. Mr. Saltonstall never 
owned an inch of land on this site. The estate always in- 
cludes two or two and a half acres. 1 dwell on this only 
in the interest of exact historic truth. We cannot call our 
house by the name of Saltonstall. If any name is given 
it, that of Whipple has first claim. 

To my mind the particular name we give this house is 
of small moment. The old mansion itself is a constant 
reminder of all the glorious names which hallow and il- 
lumine the early years of our town life, Saltonstall and 
Winthrop, Symonds and Denison, Ward and Norton and 
Hubbard and all the rest. They were all friends of the 
Elder. Every one of them may have crossed our thresh- 
old. As we sit here in the flickering firelight we seem 
to see them sitting as of old, and conversing on the great 
themes, matters of public safety, affairs of church and 
state, and the momentous events that were happening in 
the dear old England, which were much in their minds. 
The old pavement in the door yard rings again with the 
hoof-beats of Capt. Whipple's horse hurrying to lead his 
troopers on a swift ride to Andover to repel an Indian 
assault. John Appleton and Thomas French are talking 
in this very room of their imprisonment and trial for ad- 
vocating resistance to the royal governor's edict, and de- 
manding representation before they would submit to taxa- 
tion. Cohmel Hodgkins and Colonel Wade and Major 
Burnham smoke and sip their steaming cups and chat of 
Bunker Hill and Yorktown, of Burgoyne and Cornwallis, 
Washington and Lafayette. 

The mmble of Polly Crafts' loom overhead, the whirr 
of spinning wheels, the beat of the churn, the roar of great 
winter fires, the hissing of meats on the long spits, the 
voices of children at their play, or demurely reciting the 
catechism, the goodwife's chat with neighboring gossips. 



38 THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE. 

the loud laughter of the slaves, the tale of love, the sol- 
emn declaration of the last Will and Testament, the weep- 
ing of mourners blend strangely together in these low 
vaulted rooms. We see visions as we sit and dream of 
Thanksgiving feast days, when the long tables groaned 
under their weight of delicacies, of weddings and funerals, 
of home-comings and leave-takings. 

Thus the life of the ancient times revives again, the his- 
tory of other days becomes a living reality, and the sombre 
old mansion is made a living, speaking witness to the 
naturalness, the simplicity, the sturdiness, the refinement, 
the devotion of the old Puritan home life. It remains for 
us, catching the inspiration of this hour, to make this 
house a worthy memorial of the Past. 



ANNUAL MEETING, DEC. 3, 1900. 



The Annual Meeting of the Ipswich Historical Society 
was held on Monday, December 3, 1900, at eight o'clock 
p. M., at the House of the Society. 

Officers were elected for the ensuing year, as follows : 
President — T. Frank Waters. 

-r^ ., , ( John B, Brown, 
Vice-Presidents-^ John Heard. 

Cleric — John W. Goodhue. 
Treasurer — T. Frank Waters. 

( Charles A. Say ward, 
Directors — ^ John H. Cogswell, 

( Edward Kavanagh. 
Corresponding Secretary. — John H. Cogswell. 
Librarian. — John J. Sullivan. 

The reports of the President and Treasurer were read. 

It Avas voted that a committee of three be appointed to 
consider the erection of suitable markers at points of his- 
toric interest. The President appointed, John B. Brown, 
Charles A. Sayward and Edward Constant. It was voted 
that the President be added to this committee. 

Annual Report of the President. 

Ten years ago, on the 14th of April, 1900, our Histori- 
cal Society was organized. Six years of dreamy existence, 
without an abiding place and with only occasional mani- 
festations of life, followed. On Feb. 3, 1896, a distinct 
evidence of more vigorous purpose was given. On that 
date, the room in the old Probate Building was dedicated, 
and the collection of antiques was begun. The 19th of 
October, 1898, witnessed the formal exercises of dedica- 
tion of this House, and the inauguration of a new and 
more ambitious method. The completion of our tenth 
year finds that vigor unimpaired, and gratifying evidence 

(39) 



40 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT. 

that our Society has entered upon a career of established 
prosperity and usefulness. 

As our house is our unique and most precious posses- 
sion, its widely increasino; fame is a matter of great satis- 
faction. The large numl)er of visitors who tind their way 
to our doors during the summer months is, in itself, suffi- 
cient proof that our work of restoration and furnishing has 
been recognized as a valuable contribution to the historical 
material of our times. During the winter months, from 
December to April, one hundred and twenty-seven names 
were recorded in the Visitors Book. April brought fifty 
more. In May, there were one hundred and seven. June 
saw two hundred and six. During the month of July, a 
textile exhibition was arranged. A valuable collection 
of foreign textiles was secured by Miss Gray from the Art 
Museum and from friends. Our members and friends of 
the Society loaned their own treasures readily. An 
ancient loom was erected in the attic, and a web of rag 
carpet was woven by a skilled weaver, whom we dis- 
covered in our neighborhood. This exhibition was adver- 
tised extensively, and came into ver}'- favorable notice. 
Owing in fact, no doubt to this, the Jul}^ list of visitors 
rose to three hundred and seven, and the August total 
was five hundred and fifty-two. The admittance fee was 
raised to twenty-five cents, and there were few who did 
not feel that it was a very reasonable figure. The Sep- 
tember visitors were two hundred and seven, and since 
then there have been one hundred and twenty-five. 

The goodly total of 1681 visitors for the year is an item 
of notable significance. As was remarked in the Report 
of last year, a surprisingly small percentage of this large 
number is drawn from our own community, and a sur- 
prisingly large proportion of our visitors are from remote 
sections of our land and from foreign lands. A consecutive 
series of twenty names recorded in the first week of October 
reveals residents of Toledo, Ohio ; Amsterdam, Holland ; 
Frankfort, Germany; Oakland, California; Honolulu, 
Hawaii; Kaloa Kauai, Hawaii; Birmingham, Alabama; 
London, England, and three of our Ipswich folk. We 
may not presume that these travellers from afar came be- 
cause they wished to see for themselves, as the Queen of 
Sheba journeyed to Solomon's court, but we may be sure 



ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT. 41 

that they were interested to turn aside from the beaten 
round of holiday travel and spend a little while under our 
roof. 

The quality of our visitors, as well, is interesting. 
Many are people of finest culture, and wide acquaintance 
with history and the work of Historical Societies. Their 
appreciation of our house and its contents is always spon- 
taneous and enthusiastic. One gentleman from London 
remarked on the particular value of many pieces of fur- 
niture. Doubleday, Page and Co., of New York, sent 
recently an expert photographer, Mr. R. F. Turnbull of 
New York, to photograph a list of articles for a work on 
colonial furniture by Miss Singleton. Mr. Halliday of 
Boston, the publisher of a series of photographs of ancient 
and historic buildings, came to spend an hour and tarried 
nearly a day, and made some beautiful exterior views. 

The contributions to our collections have been numer- 
ous, and some are of notable value. A complete list is 
appended, but attention may be called here to a few of ex- 
ceptional interest. Mr. Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., has 
sent a letter written by Elizabeth Chute, the wife of James 
Chute, son of the ancient schoolmaster, Lionel Chute, I 
presume, addressed in the stately form of that period : 
To har honored and much 
respected friend M"" John 
Wintrup at Mr. Adam 
Wintrup's house at 
Boston this 
present 
and signed 

Your lo : 'kinswomon 
In what I can 
Elizabeth Chute 
From Ipswich, this 
10*'^ of Oct: 1653. 

The letter is full of anxious solicitude for her little son, 
then in delicate health, and requests Mr. Winthrop to 
prescribe for his and her own ailments. Its tone is most 
tender and delicate. 

A second contribution to our manuscripts is an ancient 



42 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT. 

deed of Nathaniel Kinsman of Gloucester to Jonathan 
Burley of Norwich, Conn., of "one mollatto Servant named 
Silas of the age of Sixteen years," for his " Proper Service, 
Use and Benefit and Behoof for and during the naturall 
Life of the said Mollatto servant " " in consideration of 
the sura of three hundred and fifty Pounds in Bills of 
public Credit of the old Tenor." This pathetic reminder 
of slavery in our midst bears the date, August 23, 1749. 
It was contributed by Mr. Frederic J. Kingsbury of Water- 
bury, Conn., who has also made a generous donation to 
the treasury. 

Col. Luther Caldwell very generously contributed nine 
volumes in cloth and ten in white vellum of his "Life of 
Anne Bradstreet," the proceeds of the sale to be used for 
the benefit of the Society. 

Mr. Francis R. Appleton has given the beautifully 
framed portrait of Rev. Joseph McKean, D.D., which 
now adorns our Cabinet Room. Dr. McKean was the son 
of William and Sarah Cogswell McKean, daughter of Dr. 
Joseph Manning. He became Professor of Rhetoric and 
Oratory in Harvard College. He married Amy, daughter 
of Major Joseph Swasey, and died at the early age of 42 
in Havana, Cuba, on the IT'** March, 1818. May we not 
hope that in due time the portraits of Daniel Dana, Daniel 
Treadwell and Joseph Green Cogswell, Ipswich men of the 
finest intellectual attainments, may be given by generous 
and appreciative friends ! 

Col. Nathaniel Shatswell has honored us with the gift 
of a flag of the United States, which was made in our 
town for the first company raised here to serve in the Civil 
War. Mr. Joseph D. Dodge of Lynn surprised us re- 
cently with the gift of two bronze lustre pitchers, used by 
the judges of the Ipswich Court for thirty years from 
1820 to 1850, in perfect preservation, and the bell used 
by the Town Crier, Aaron Jewett his grandfather, for 
years. Mr. Jewett was janitor of the Court House for 
many years. It is said he used to " cry " the Court, in 
doggerel fashion : 

" Run, rogues, run, 
The Court's begun 
Stand before the Justice 
And tell what you've done." 



ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT. 43 

The pitchers came into his possession. Upon his death 
in 1850, his widow took them with her to Hamilton where 
she lived until the death of her son, Mr. Dodge's father, 
in 1868. She then removed to Rowley, and the pitchers 
and the bell went with her and found place on the library- 
mantel of the ancestral farmhouse. There they remained 
for thirty-two years, until they were taken down and 
brought to this House. 

The financial status of our Society is rapidly becoming 
stable and prosperous. Though no large gifts have come 
to us this year, our receipts have been more than suffi- 
cient to meet our current needs. We began this financial 
year with a loan of three hundred dollars to pay the final 
construction bills. As the Treasurer's Report shows, 
more than four hundred dollars were spent in settling 
these accounts. A hedge of Japan Quince was set in the 
spring at an expense of $44.50. Our interest account 
required $70.70, $100 was expended for work of various 
kinds within and without the house, and other necessary 
expenditures brought our total expense to $905.88. 

A balance of $81.64 remained from last year. Gifts 
and membership fees netted $514.15. Our House itself, 
from admittance fees, and the sale of our publications and 
photographs brought us $282.87. A balance very nearly 
sufficient to pay the loan remains in the Treasury. If the 
same income can be secured during the year we now be- 
gin, it may be possible for us to make some approach to 
a fit remuneration to Miss Alice A. Gray, our devoted and 
invaluable Curator. Her services have been rendered 
from the beginning, freely and enthusiastically, and her 
delicate taste, her rare knowledge of antiques and her 
own personal collection are the principal factors in the at- 
tractive interior arrangement and furnishing of the House. 
Her assistant, Miss Julia Gutberlett, has been a cheery and 
winsome housekeeper, and chaperone of visitors during 
Miss Gray's absence. 

Regard for the comfort of the Curator will require us 
at an early day to make suitable provision for heating the 
rear rooms by steam or hot water. Funds are needed also 
for reprinting several numbers of our annual reports. The 
sale of our pamphlets has been surprisingly good, and 



44 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT. 

while the first expense of reprinting would be considera- 
ble, the sales during a few years would return a good 
profit on the investment. 

The Society is indebted to the generosity of Mr. John 
B. Brown for the entire expense of publishing the ninth 
issue in our Historical Series, which is just passing through 
the press. 

I would make fresh appeal to friends of the Society, 
and all interested in its advancement, to provide funds 
for an immediate extension of our work. We need more 
land, and means for constructing a log-house, as an illus- 
tration of the primitive homes in the wilderness. Other 
large schemes have already been outlined, and await real- 
ization. 

One line of work should be begun at once, the marking 
of spots of historic interest in our town. ^Meeting House 
Hill, with its successive meeting-houses, its fort, prison, 
stocks and whipping-post, the site of John Winthrop's and 
Anne Bradstreet's houses, the Argilla farm, and other loca- 
tions, need appropriate markers. It would be a happy 
inauguration of the new century, if provision could be 
made, not for a simple tablet, but for an appropriate and 
impressive memorial of the resistance to the Andros tax 
in 1687, the largest and most enduring historic event in 
our history. 



REPORT OF THE TREASURER. 



45 



Report of the Treasurer. 

The Ipswich Historical Society 

in account with T. F. Waters, acting Treasurer. 



To Balance in Treasur3% December 1899, 
Loan from Ipswich Savings Bank, 
Membersliip Fees and Gifts, 
Eeceipts from house admittance fees, sale 
of boolvs and pictures. 



By Construction account 



i 81.64 
300.00 
514.15 


282.87 



.$1178.66 



Edward VV. Choate, 








$70.63 


Augustine H. Plouflf, 








87.06 


Michael J. .ludge. 








35.45 


John W. Goodhue, 








82.41 


Austin L. Lord, . 








27.47 


Winfield L. Johnson, 








10.15 


William H. Bird, 








13.50 


S. Franklin Cauney, 








60.90 


John S. Glover, • 








15.00 




$402.57 


Hedge and setting, 44.50 


Interest on debt, 








70.70 


Printing, . 








86.95 


Labor, 








100.30 


Postage and envelopes. 








12.16 


Water bills. 








11.30 


Photographs, 








25.09 


Lawrence Memorial Tablet, 






12.00 


Miss Gray, 






75.00 


Incidental house expense. 






65.31 




«905.88 


Balance in Treasury, 








272.78 



$1178.66 



NAMES OF MEMBERS. 



Frederick J. Alley, 
Mrs. Mary G. Alley, 
Dr. Charles E. Ames, 
Daniel Fuller Appletou, 
Mrs. Susan A. R. Appleton, 
Francis R. Appleton, 
Mrs. Frances L. Appleton, 
James W. Appleton, 
Randolph M. Appleton, 
Mrs. Helen Appleton, 
Dr. G. Guy Bailey, 
Mrs. Grace F. Bailey, 
Mrs. Elizabeth H. Baker, 
Charles W. Bamford, 
Miss Mary D. Bates, 
John A. Blake, 
John E. Blakemore, 
Mrs. Caroline E. Bomer, 
James W Bond, 
Warren Boynton, 
Miss Annie Gertrude Brown, 
Charles W. Brown, 
Edward F. Brown, 
Mrs. Carrie R. Brown, 
Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, 
Mrs. Elizabeth M. Brown, 
Henry Brown, 
Miss Isabel G. Brown, 
John B. Brown, 
Mrs. Lucy T. Brown, 
Rev. Augustine Caldwell, 
Miss Florence F. Caldwell, 
Miss Lydia A. Caldwell, 
Miss Sarah P. Caldwell, 
Charles A. Campbell, 
Edward W. Choate, 
Philip E. Clark, 
E. Harry Clegi?, 
Miss Lucy C. Coburn, 
John H. Cogswell, 
Theodore F. Cogswell, 
Miss Harriet D. Condon, 
Rev. Edward Constant, 
Charles S. Cummings, 
Arthur C. Damon, 
Mrs. Carrie Damon, 

(46) 



Mrs. Cordelia Damon, 

Harry K. Damon, 

George G. Dexter, 

Miss C. Bertha Dobson, 

Joseph D. Dodge, 

Harry K. Dodge, 

Mrs. "Edith S. Dole, 

Rev. John M. Donovan, 

Arthur W. Dow, 

Mrs Charles G. Dyer, 

George Fall, 

Miss Emeline C. Farley, 

Miss Lucy R. Farley, 

Joseph K. Farley, 

John S. Glover, 

Frank T. Goodhue, 

John W. Goodhue, 

Rev. Arthur H. Gordon, 

John J. Gould, 

James Graft'um, 

Mrs. Eliza H. Green, 

Miss Lucy Hamlin, 

Mrs. Lois Hardy, 

Miss Margaret A. Harris, 

Mrs. Kate L. Haskell, 

George H. W. Hayes, 

Mrs. Alice L. Heard, 

Miss Alice Heard, 

John Heard, 

Miss Mary A. Hodgdon, 

Joseph I. Horton, 

Lewis R. Hovey, 

Miss Ruth A. Hovey, 

Gerald L. Hoyt, 

Miss Lucy S. Jewett, 

John A. Johnson. 

Miss Ellen M. Jordan, 

Edward Kavanagh, 

Charles M. Kelly, 

Fred A. Kimball, 

Rev. John C. Kimball, 

Aaron Kinsman, 

Miss Bethiah D. Kinsman, 

Miss Caroline L. Lakeman, 

Curtis E. Lakeman, 

Mrs. Frances C. Lakeman, 



NAMES OF MEMBERS. 



47 



G. Frank Langdon, 
Austin L. Lord, 
George A. Lord, 
Miss Lncy Slade Lord, 
Thomas H. Lord, 
Mrs. Lncretia S. Lord, 
Dr. George E. Mac Arthur, 
Mrs. Isabelle G. Mac Arthur, 
Rev. Frank J. Mc Connell, 
Mrs. Mary B. Main, 
James F. Mann, 
John P. Marston, 
Everard H. Martin, 
Mrs. Marietta K. Martin, 
Miss Heloise Meyer, 
Miss Abby L. NeAvman, 
Mrs. Amanda Nichols, 
John W. Nourse, 
Charles H. Noyes, 
Mrs. Harriet E. Noyes, 
Mrs. Anna Osgood, 
Rev. Robert B. Parker, 
Rev. Reginald Pearce, 
Martin V. B. Perley, 
Moritz B. Philipp, 
Augustine H. Plouff, 
James E. Richardson, 
Miss Anna W. Ross, 
Fred. G. Ross, 
Joseph Ross, 
Joseph F. Ross, 
Dr. William H. Russell, 
William S. Russell, 
Angus Savory, 
Charles A. Sayward, 
Mrs. Henrietta W. Sayward, 



George A. Schofield, 
Dexter M. Smith, 
Edward A. Smith, 
Miss Elizabeth P. Smith, 
Mrs. Harriette A. Smith, 
Henry P. Smith, 
Rev. R. Cotton Smith, 
Mrs. Elizabeth K. Spaulding, 
Dr. Frank H. Stockwell, 
Mrs. Alice L. Story, 
John J. Sullivan, 
Mrs. Elizabeth M. Sullivan, 
Arthur L. Sweetser, 
Rev. William K. Thayer, 
John E. Teuney, 
Mrs. Annie T. Tenney, 
Miss Ellen R. Trask, 
Bayard Tuckerman, 
Charles S. Tuckerman, 
Francis H. Wade, 
Miss Martha E. Wade, 
Miss Nellie F. Wade, 
William F. Wade, 
Luther Wait, 
Miss Annie L. Warner, 
Mrs. 'Caroline L. Warner, 
Henry C. Warner, 
Rev. T. Frank Waters, 
Miss Susan C. Whipple, 
Mrs. Marianna Whittier, 
Miss Eva Adams Willcomb, 
Frederic Willcomb, 
Wallace P. Willett, 
Robert D. Winthrop, 
Chalmers Wood. 



HONORARY MEMBERS. 



John Albree, Jr., Swampscott, 
William Sumner Appleton, Bos- 
ton, 
Lamont G. Burnham, Boston, 
Eben Caldwell, Elizabeth, N. J., 
Luther Caldwell, Washington, 

D. C, 
Mrs. Edward Cordis, Jamaica 

Plain. 
Charles W. Darling, Utica, N.Y. 
Elisha P. Dodge, Newburyport, 
Miss Caroline Farley, Cam- 
bridge, 
Frank C Farley, So. Manches- 
ter, Conn., 
Miss Katharine S. Farley, So. 
Manchester, Conn., 



Mrs. Eunice W. Felton, Cam- 
bridge, 
Jesse Fewkes, Newton, 
Reginald Foster, Boston, 
Augustus P. Gardner, Hamilton, 
Charles L.Goodhue, Springfield, 
Mrs. Elizabeth K. Gray, 
Miss Emilv R. Gray, Sauquoit, 

N. Y., 
Arthur W. Hale, Winchester. 
Albert Farley Heard, 2d, Bos- 
ton, 
Otis Kimball, Boston, 
Mrs. Otis Kimball, Boston, 
Miss Sarah S. Kimball, Salem, 
Frederick J. Kingsbury, Water- 
bury, Conn., 



48 



HONORARY MEMBERS. 



Miss Caroline T. Leeds, Bostou, 
Miss Katharine P. Loring, Bos- 
ton, 
Mrs. Susan M. Loring, Boston, 
Mrs.Elizabetli R. Lyman, Brook- 
line, 
Josiali H. Mann, Memphis, Tenu. 
Miss Adeline Manning, Boston, 
Henry S. Manning, New York, 
Mrs. Mary W. Manning, New 

York. 
Geoi'ge L. von Meyer, Rome, 

Italy, 
Miss Esther Parmenter, Revere, 
Mrs. Mary S.,C. Peabody, 
Fi'ederic H. Ringe, Los Angeles, 
Cal., 



Mrs. Henry M. Sal tonstall, Bos- 
ton, 
Richard W. Saltonstall, Boston, 
Denison R. Slade, Center Har- 
bor, N. H., 
Joseph Spiller, Boston, 
Miss Ellen A. Stone, East Lex- 
ington, 
Miss Ann H. Treadwell, Jamaica 

Plain, 
Harry W. Tyler, Boston, 
Mrs. George W. Wales, Boston, 
George Willcomb, Boston, 
Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., Bos- 
ton. 



DONATIONS TO THE SOCIETY IN 1900. 



William F. Abbot, Worcester, Mass. A photograph 
portrait of Nathan Dane, founder of the Harvard Law 
School, a native of Ipswich, with an autograph. 

Francis R. Appleton. An oil painting. Enlarged copy of 
a portrait of the Rev. Joseph McKean, D.D., LL.D., 
of Harvard College, born in Ipswich in 1776. 

Mrs. Martha Bird. A quilling wheel; a tin sconce; a 
pitcher of English pottery ; an early English hand 
sewing machine ; wooden stretchers used in John 
Birch's stocking factory, and a bag made of stocki- 
net. 

The Misses Brooks, Salem, Mass. Two miniatures 
painted on ivory, and nine bed quilts. Made by the 
grandmother and mother of Mrs. Henry M. Brooks. 

Mrs. George C. Bossox, Reading, Mass. A photo- 
graph, portrait of Mrs. Fitz, wife of Rev. Daniel 
Fitz, of Ipswich. 

Mrs. William G. Brown. Fifteen pieces of pottery and 
porcelain, English; two pieces of pewter; a leather 
covered money box ; a sword or knife, brass mounted ; 
a bureau, chair and table of early date, and a candle- 
stick. 

Mrs. D. Bryant. A toy skillet, and a night lamp. 

Col. Luther Caldwell, Lynn, Mass. An engraved 
portrait of Commodore John Paul Jones, and eigh- 
teen copies of " The Life of Anne Bradstreet," sold 
for the benefit of the Society. 

J. D. Dodge, Lynn, Mass. Two pitchers of copper lustre 
ware, English, once owned by Aaron Jewett, jani- 
tor of the Court House in Ipswich, 1820-1850, and 
used by the Judges of the Courts during that time, 
and a town-crier's bell, used by Aaron Jewett while 
acting as crier in Ipswich previous to 1834. 

4 («) 



50 DONATIONS. 

Mrs. Mary 8. Farley. A "fly-flap," Chinese. 

A. P. Foster, Waterbury, Vt. A spinning-wheel head, 
of early type. 

Francis T. Goodhue. A mahogany silk reel, and two 
leather-bound money boxes from the house of Miss 
Elizabeth D. Goodhue of Salem. 

Miss Frances L. Goodrich, Stackhouse, North Carolina. 
A piece of Coverlid weaving, done by women in 
North Carolina at the present time. 

Mrs. Lois Hardy. A rapier, made in Amsterdam Hol- 
land. 

Joseph I. Horton. A collection of Natural History 
specimens from the region about Ipswich ; a mahog- 
any case with glass doors, once owned by Dr. 
Thomas Manning, and the working plans for the Ips- 
wich water works. 

Mrs. Joseph I. Horton. A spice mill, brass and 
wrought iron, German, of about 1700. 

Miss S. E. Lakeman. Four pieces of paper money, 
issued by Richard Russell of the Union Store, in Ips- 
wich, Feb. 2, 1863. 

James F. Mann. A child's chair. Used by the father 
of Mr. Mark Newman when a child, and a large table 
with tops of Dutch tiles, reproductions of the old 
" bible-set " for a border. 

Thomas S. Nickerson, Newburyport, Mass. A pottery 
jar, reproduction of an old piece, made at the Ce- 
ramic works in Newburyport. 

Miss Esther Parmenter, Revere, iMass. A Dutch chop- 
ping knife. 

Miss Hannah M. Peatfield. Bobbins and thread used 
in the Ipswich lace factory, and a piece of paper cur- 
rency dated August 18, 177.5. 

M. V. B. Perley, Portsmouth, N. H. A photograph, 
portrait of General William Whipple, born in Kit- 
tery, Maine, in 178.3. 

Augustine H. Plouff. A leather tire bucket marked 
" Ipswich Fire Societ3^" 

Miss Leonora Pope, Boston. A parasol of about 1840. 

Edward J. Ready. An epaulet, brass, found in the 
walls of his house, and other small objects. 



DONATIONS. 51 

Miss Mary T. Saunders, Salem, Mass. A piece of early 

English furniture calico. 
Angus Savory. A pair of hames. 
Colonel Nathaniel Shatswell. A United States flag. 

Made in Ipswich for the first company raised in the 

town for service in the civil war. 
Miss Lucy Smith. A curtain of early English furniture 

calico, called "India Cotton," bought in 1798 for 

hangings of an Ipswich bed room. 
Miss Eunice K. Smith. Two pieces of pottery and 

porcelain ; a piece of glass, and a tea tray. 
W. S. Spinney. Photograph of the memorial marking 

the birth pkce of Mary Lyon. 
Edward H. Stevens, Ossipee, N. H. A loom, complete, 

with warping bars, etc., etc., and a specimen of a 

hand-woven coverlid. 
The Peabody Academy of Science, Salem. A quan- 
tity of printed labels for use in the rooms of the So- 
ciety. 
Rev. T. F. Waters. Three paintings on velvet, from 

the house of Miss Elizabeth D. Goodhue of Salem. 
Mrs. Wm. C. West, Salem, Mass. A pair of brocade 

slippers, worn at the wedding of Miss Wise, in 

1764. 
Frederick Willcomb. A child's " standing-stool." 
W. P. Willett, East Orange, N. J. Two pieces of 

pewter, two of Britannia, and a pair of scales for weigh- 
ing coin. 
Mrs. Lucretia Whipple. A sampler worked by Me- 

hitable Mackintire of Reading, Mass., in 1807, and 

two pieces of English pottery. 
Maynard Whittier. a Rowley enrollment record, and 

tools used by wheelwrights early in this century. 

donations of books and pamphlets. 

Abbot Public Library, Marblehead, Mass. The 22nd 
Annual Report. 

American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. Pro- 
ceedings, 1900. 



52 DONATIONS. 

Daniel Fuller Appleton. A sermon preached at the 
funeral of Mrs. Maiy Buckminster, June, 1805, by 
the Rev. Jesse Appleton ; The " Bradford History of 
the Plymouth Plantation ; " Chronolooical History of 
New England," from 1602-1720, by Thomas Prince, 
Boston, 1736 ; "Norton's Evangelist," by John Nor- 
ton, teacher of the Church at Ipswich, New England, 
London edition, 1654; "A Short Catechism, drawn 
out of the word of God," by Samuel Stone, minister 
of the word at Hartford in Connecticut, 1684 ; reprint 
by the Acorn Club. 

Mrs. Martha Bird. Forty-three volumes of old books. 

Bridgeport Public Library. Annual Report, 1900. 

Mr. Brown. A volume : "The Massachusetts Register and 
Calendar, etc.," 1836. 

Cambridge Public Library. Annual Report, 1899. 

William Everett. "Patriotism :" An oration delivered 
before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, June, 1900. 

N. P. Greenlaw, Boston. A volume : " History and De- 
scription of Ipswich, England." 

Rev. F. L. Goodspeed. "Pilgrim and Puritan." 

Grand R. A. Chapter, District of Columbia. Report, 
1899. 

Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio. An- 
nual Report, 1899. 

Rev. Horace C. Hovey, Newburyport, Mass. A vol- 
ume : "The Old South " (First Presbyterian Church, 
Newburyport), and a pamphlet: "Daniel Hovey, of 
Ipswich." 

" Report of the Town Officers of Ipswich, Mass., the two 
hundred and sixty-ninth year of the Town's Incorpo- 
ration, 1900," and vol. 5, " Historical Collections." 

F. W. Lamb, Manchester, N. H. " Records of the Lamb, 
Savory and Harriman families." 

William Little, Newbury, Mass. "A Contribution to 
the History of Byfield Parish." 

Nahant Public Library. Noteworthy Descriptions of 
the Town." 

Nantucket Historical Society. Sixth Annual Report, 
1900. 



DONATION?t. 53 

New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. 
Vol. 32, No. 2, April 1900. 

John W. Nourse. An Address delivered before the 
"Nurse family Association at Danvers, July 29, 
1892." 

Miss Hannah M. Peatfield. Five volumes of old books. 

Mrs. Edward Plouff. Nine volumes of old books. 

Reynolds Library. Rochester, N. Y. The Reference 
Catalogue, 1898. 

SoMERViLLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. " The Historic Fes- 
tival." 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Seven vol- 
umes of Publications of the State Archives, ''The 
Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution- 
ary War." 

The University of the State of New York, Albany. 
A Volume : "New York in the Revolution as Colony 
and State;" "Public Papers of George Clinton," in 
two volumes, and a pamphlet : "Slavery in New York." 

TopsFiELD Historical Society. " History of Topsfield 
Academy." 

Trinity College, Durham, N. C. Historical Papers, 
Series iv. 

Rev. T. F. Waters. A Collection of Old School Books, 
Songs, Newspapers, etc. 

Dr. J. L. M. Willis, P^liot, Maine. Vol. iii, No. xi, 
"Old Eliot." 

Gifts of Plants and Shrubs for the Garden by James 
F, Mann, Francis H. Wade, Benjamin Fewkes, Mrs. 
T. F. Waters, The Botanic Garden, Cambridge, 
Mass., Miss Katherine P. Loring, Beverly Farms, 
Prof. Charles L. Jackson, Beverly Farms, George 
von L. Meyer, Hamilton. 

loans to the society in 1900. 

E. A. Smith, Salem, Mass. A piece of embroidery, 
wrought by Priscilhi Symonds, who was born in 
1648, «ind died in 1734. She was a daughter of Sam- 
uel Symonds, first Deputy Governor of the Colony 
of Massachusetts. 






PUBLICATIONS OF THE IPSWICH 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

XI 



THE 



MEETING HOUSE GREEN 



AND A 



STUDY OF HOUSES AND LANDS IN 
THAT VICINITY 



WITH PROCEEDINGS AT THE ANNUAL 
MEETING, DEC. 2, 1901 



Salem press : 
The Salem Press Co., Salem, Mass. 

1903. 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE IPSWICH 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

XI 



THE 



MEETING HOUSE GREEN 



STUDY OF HOUSES AND LANDS IN 
THAT VICINITY 

WITH PROCEEDINGS AT THE ANNUAL 
MEETING, DEC. 2, 1901 



By T. Frank Waters 



Salem press: 
The Salem Press Co., Salem, Mass. 

1902. 






Gift 
Tiie £oci6uy 

Kf '05 



MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 



No spot within our ancient township is enriched with 
such fragrant memories, and associations of such varied 
and intense interest. The earliest settlers set it apart for 
public use, and it has never ceased to be the center of the 
civic life of our community. Here they built their first 
meeting house. A vague tradition, as Felt, the annalist 
of Ipswich informs us,* located it on the rise of ground 
now occupied by the Heard mansion, near the meeting- 
house of the South Church, but there is no historic ground 
for such a surmise. 

On the 16th day of the 11th mo. 1639, f the ancient 
keeper of our Town Records made note, " Theophilus 
Wilson is possessed of one house lott, bought of John 
Sanders, bounded on the Southwest by the Meeting House 
Green, and on the Northeast by the Stony Street, on the 
Southeast by a house lott formerly granted to Robert 
Mozey." This houselot is easily identified with the lot 
bounded on three sides by the Green, North Main and 
Summer Streets, and at the date of entry, the meetino-- 
house was already built on the Green. Under the date, 
March 22, 1637, in the Town Record, allusion is made 
to " the Cross Street called the Meeting House Lane." 

The identification of this old way is difllcult, but the 
inference that the meeting-house was already built is be- 
yond question. No earlier allusion remains to us, but the 

* History of Ipswich, page 243. 

t The dates in this article are always as they are found in the Records. It will be 
remembered, however, that by act of Parliament the year, which had begun on the 
25th of March, was ordered to begin January 1, 1752, and to rectify the calendar, 
eleven days were dropped, so that the 8d of September became the 14th. Under 
the Old style, as it is called, January and February were the eleventh and twelfth 
months. Hence the 16th day of the Uth month 1639 really is identical with Janu- 
ary 27, 1640, New Style. 

C3) 



4 MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 

later allusion of Edward Johnson is of interest. "Their 
meeting-house is a very good prospect to a great part of 
the Town and beautifully built."* This harmonizes with 
the location on the hill-top, and has no point, when applied 
to the tradition of the other site. 

Of the building itself, we know nothing. It was 
hurriedly built, no doubt, and may have been a structure 
of logs with a thatched roof, or a cheap frame building. 
As early as October, 1643, an intimation of insufficient 
room for worshippers occurs, f "There is liberty granted 
to such young men and youth as shal [ ] approved of by 
the Deacons to sett up a gallery at their owne charges, and 
the gallery to be built or approved for the manner by the 
Deacons, Goodman Andrews, and Mr. Gardinr." 

But, humble as the building may have been, it was 
the meeting place of great souls. Nathaniel Ward and 
John Norton were ministers of the highest repute. Nathan- 
iel Rogers also was a preacher of excellent quality. John 
Winthrop Jr., Thomas Dudley and Simon Bradstreet, be- 
came famous Governors. Daniel Denison was renowned 
as the military leader of the Colony and as a magistrate. 
Samuel Symonds was magistrate and Deputy Governor. 
Richard Saltonstall, Doctor Giles Firmin, the Appletons, 
and many others, were men of grand character. Their 
wives were refined gentlewomen. Such names as these hal- 
low the lowliest building, and make the hill-top forever 
venerable. 

This primitive meeting-house was soon outworn or out- 
grown, and on the 4th day ofthe 11th month, 1646, it was 
sold to Thomas Firman for fifty shillings, " and he is to 
remove it by the 29"' of 7*'' month next, which will be in 
the year 1647. "| The extreme cheapness of the price 
confirms our surmise that the building, which was not 
more than thirteen years' old, was a rude structure. The 
direction as to removal suggests that the spot it occu- 
pied was needed for the new edifice. Work on the new 
meeting-house seems to have been pushed, and hints of its 
completion and occupancy are found in the Town Record 
of "the 11"' of (11) 1647." 

* Wonder Working Proviclence, pub. in 1654. 
t Town Kecords, 1G43. 
J.Town Recorde. 



MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 

" Voted that the Deacons shall have power to agree with 
a man, whome they shall thinke fittto keepe the meeting- 
house clean, and to ring the Bell, and what they shall 
agree with him shall be paid out of the Town rate." 

Finishing touches remained to be made, however, as it 
was voted'in 1653,* "to make a sheete for the turret 
window and cover for upper scuttle hole," and two years 
later, some repairs were in order, as a bill of £10, 14s. 4d. 
was approved for " mending the windows, new banding, 
soldering and new glass."! This building was probably 
of the hip-roof order, with a " turret " for the bell at the 
apex, resembling generally the "Old Ship Church" of 
Hingham, with diamond paned glass set in lead sashes. It 
was "surrounded by a fort. The earlier meeting-house was 
very likely protected in similar fashion, as the Pequot 
War broke out in 1637 and, for a halt century after, the 
settlers were never free from fear of Indian attacks. Often 
the soldiers marched away at the call to arms, and when 
the horrors of King Philip's war burst upon the Colony, 
Ipswich men under Major Samuel Appleton bore a valiant 
part. Men brought their arms with them to public wor- 
ship and sentinels paced their beat without during the time 
of service. The meeting-house was a place of deposit for 
ammunition. Four swords of the common stock were kept 
there in 1647, and in 1681, there was a "magazine in the 
meeting-house."* In case of attack, as it was the largest 
building in the town, and the one best adapted for de- 
fence, tlie people would naturally have hurried thither. 
Hence the value and need of the fortification which was 
erected around it. 

In 1650, it was voted by the Town, "The wall about 
the meeting-house shall be made up and kept in repair." 
The implication of the final clause "kept in repair," is that 
this work was in the nature of a rebuilding of the wall, 
that may have fallen into disrepair, and not the original 
erection. Again, in 1672, a few years before King Philip's 
War, the Constable was ordered to " pay John Brewer 
208. for charge he is out about building the fort,"f and on 
August 20, 1696, when the Indians were assailing the 
Maine colonists, the Town Treasurer was instructed "to 

* Town Records. Town Records, 1655. 



b MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 

hire laborers at the Town charge to repair the fort about 
the meeting-house."* 

No record of the style or size of this ancient fort has 
been preserved, but there was a similar one in Topsfield, 
built in 1673, five or six feet high and "three foote brod 
at the botom." On the south side of the meeting-house, 
it was twelve feet, and on the other three sides, ten feet 
distant, and at the southeast corner, within the wall a 
watch-house ten feet square was built, which was called 
" the old Meetinof-House fort " at the beginninor of the 
eighteenth century. f Happily no occasion for defence 
ever arose, and a few years after the last Indian outbreak 
the Town voted in 1702, that the "rocks at the old meet- 
ing house " should be sold and the proceeds used towards 
buying a town clock. 

As to the new meeting-house, the third on the Green, 
the vote of Jan. 26, 1699, | directed that the foundation 
should be laid " as near the old meeting-house as the 
Committee shall appoint," and the Committee was in- 
structed to " levell the place for the floor of ye said new 
Meeting-House." The old house was turned over to the 
Committee, but it was stipulated that they should " suffer 
the Inhal)itant8 to meet in it until the new Meeting House 
is finished " and " provided they remove the old meeting- 
house in six months," " provided also they bank up with 
stones and gravel against the sides of the new meeting- 
house, the Town allowing stones to do it out of ye Fort."§ 

The new house was a stately structure, sixty-six feet 
long, sixty feet wide, and twenty-six feet stud. It had a 
"turret" or belfry for the bell, and in 1702 provision was 
made for a town-clock, with a dial. The sexton, Simon 
Pinder, was instructed in 1716 to ring the bell daily at 
five o'clock in the morning. The old meeting-house was 

♦Town Records. 

t History of Boxford, by Sidney Perley. 

t Felt inclines to believe that the third meeting-house was erected some years 
before this. In 1667, it was " agreed with Ezeliiel Woodward and Freegrace Nor. 
ton to gett and how the timbers for the meeting house roof." In 1671 an appro, 
priation was made for ten days' work for raising the frame. These items refer 
rather to enlargements or repairs of tlie existing building. It Is worth noting that 
a Committee to repair the meeting liouse was cliosen in 1663, only about fifteen 
years after it was built. The use of green timber, and the difficulty of keeping 
the roof tiglit, often alluded to, may explain the frequency of repair. 

§ Town Records, 1699. 



MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 7 

sold back to the town by the building committee in 1701, 
and in 1703 the town voted to sell it to anybody for £20. 
No purchaser was forthcominfr, and a dreary suggestion of 
the ruinous and melancholy condition into which the ven- 
erable building fell, and the wanton appropriation of it by 
piecemeal, is contained in the vote of March 16, 1703/4. 
" Voted that the Selectmen do inquire and make search of 
all p'sns y* have disorderly taken away out of ye old 
Meeting-house and converted ye same to y"" own use, shall 
prosecute them at law, unless they will comply and make 
satisfaction." 

The most decisive note as to the location of the new 
house is afforded by a very curious map, made in the year 
1717, of the north side of Main street. It locates " Pot- 
ter's House," on the corner of Loney's lane, and there is a 
quaint remark in the margin : 

" Had there been but a little more room on this side the meeting- 
house should have been set down." 

" The meeting-house is but little more than 4 rods from Potter's 
house." 

Measuring a radius of seventy-five feet from this corner 
brings us to the terrace north of the present building, 
and on this the third meeting house probably w^as built. 

The fourth building was erected in 1749. It was sixty- 
three feet long, forty-seven feet wide, and was twenty- 
six feet stud . It was admirably built and was used for a 
century. Its location is well remembered, on the precise 
spot occupied by the present edifice, which was erected in 
1846-1847, but the tall steeple was at the northern end, 
and the building stood with its broad side facing down the 
hill. The pulpit and sounding board were famous works 
of handicraft, and are preserved in the steeple-room of 
the present edifice, in a much abridged form. 

At the southeast corner of the Green, on the spot now 
occupied by the chapel of the First Church, the town 
pound was built, a fenced inclosure into which stray cattle 
were driven and kept confined. Much annoyance and no 
small damage were often caused by the straying of cattle, 
horses or swine into the tilled fields or gardens. Conse- 
quently stringent regulations were adopted by the town to 
prevent the breach of the laws, with reference to pastur- 



8 MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 

age. Thus it is recorded under date, 13 January, 1639 :* 
" agreed that whosoever shall find mares, horses or oxen 
in the cow common two hours after sunrising and bring 
same either to the Pound or to the owner of the same, the 
said owner shall give to such a p'ty double recompense 
for his pains. The forfeits of 10s. are to goe half to the 
Towne, and halfe to him that shall impound such tres- 
passing cattell." Swine were to be impounded by an 
order of the year 1643, and in the same year, it was voted : 

" The Common Pounder or any other party shall have 
ii d a peece for all piggs, or any other Cattell, that they 
shall impound, out of any Comon-field or fenced ground, 
except house lotts and gardens." A discolored and dimly- 
written old document, preserved in the Court Records in 
Salem, has a very interesting association with this old 
pound, and the method of enforcing the laws, which gov- 
erned its use. It appears that John Leigh had driven 
five cows belonging to his neighbor, Simon Tompson of 
Rocky Hill, to the pound. To secure their release, Tomp- 
son was obliged to petition the august magistrate. Gen- 
eral Denison, who issued the following writ toTheophilus 
Wilson, the constable, with his autograph in his familiar 
hand. 

To the Constable of Ipswich 

You are required to replevin five Cowes of Simon Tomp- 
son's now impounded by John Leigh, and to deliver them 
to the sd Simon, provided he give bond to the value of 
fifety shillings w"' sufBcient sureties to prosecute his Re- 
plevin, at the next Court, holden at Ipswich & so from 
Court to Court till the Cause be ended & to pay such 
costs and damage as the sd John Leigh shal by law recover 
ag^' him and so make a true return hereof under your hand 
Dated 9"^ of August, 1654. 

Daniel Denison. 

This bears the endorsement, which is scarcely legible 
from the scrawling; hand : 

9**^ of August, 1654. I replevined 5 cowes of Simon 
Tompson and took bond of hym accordingly. 

by me 
Theophilus Wilson 

Constable. 

* Town Records. 



MEETING HOUSE GREEN. » 

Every time the pound gate closed upon a stray animal, 
this formal proceeding was necessary before it could l)e 
recovered by the owner. This custom contiuued for many 
years, and " field-drivers," whose theoretical functiou it is 
to drive stray cattle to pound, are still elected annually. 
The spot thus used was sold to Mr. George Heard, on be- 
half of subscribers for a vestry or chapel for the First 
Parish in 1831, and the present building was erected 
upon it. 

Allusion has already been made to a small watch-house, 
ten feet square, built at Topsfield in 1673, within the 
meeting-house fort. The Ipswich watch-house was built 
many years before this, and was near the pound, as will 
appear from subsequent records. As early as 1636, the 
General Court ordered that every town should provide a 
sufficient watch-house " before the last of the 5^^ month 
next"* (1637). But our town seems to have proceeded 
very leisurely in the matter. On Dec. 4, 1643, "two loads 
of wood for the watch-house," perhaps timber foi its con- 
struction, had been delivered. In 1645 " There was pay'd 
to Goodman Cartwright, Thomas Burnam, towards the 
building the watch-house, two and forty shillings by Mr. 
Bradstreete, and for a dayes work of a team to draw timber 
by Rich. Kimball for Mr. Bradstreete, 0-8-0. "t Still the 
building was unfinished, for, in September, 1647, the town 
was " presented " by the Quarter Sessions Court for want 
of a watch-house, $ and in response to this summons, the 
seven men contracted with Philip Fowler, in the February 
following, to build a chimney at the watch-house and clap- 
board it.f 

This building is a vivid reminder of the perils of the 
time. A constant watch was maintained by the constables 
from the beginning to guard against any disorder by night, 
and in timeOf danger from Indian assault, special precau- 
tions were taken. "Every adult male of each family above 
the age of eighteen, including "sons, servants and sojourn- 
ers," was liable to this service. From the last of March 
to the last of September the streets and all exposed local- 

* Mass. Bay Colony Records. t Town Records. 

I Papers in Ct. Records. 



10 MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 

ities were patrolled from half an hour after sunset to half 
an hour before sunrise. All who were abroad after ten 
o'clock were likely to be challen2:ed by the watch, and 
summoned to exi)lain where they were goin^ and what 
their business was, and if they failed to satisfy the inquis- 
itive night-guard, they were liable to arrest and detention 
at the watch-house or "courte of guard " till morning. 

When there was special fear of Indians, military offi- 
cers were ordered to keep watch and ward day and night, 
and it was prescribed that public alarm shoukl be given 
by distinctly discharging three muskets, or the continued 
beat of the drum at night, or firing the beacon, or dis- 
charging a piece of ordnance at night. All sentinels were 
to go immediately to all houses in their neighborhood, 
crying. Arm ! Arm ! and all women and children, and old 
and infirm, were to hurry within the fort, where the am- 
munition was to be guarded. In 1645, a double mili- 
tary watch armed with pike and musket was ordered and 
a daily scout at the outskirt of each town.* 

In all these dark and perilous times, the watch-house, 
with its comfortable fire, was a convenient rendezvous for 
the watch, and a place of detention for any suspicious 
characters. Many a timid youth, afraid of his own shadow, 
went with trembling from its safe shelter to keep his vigil 
in the dark streets or on the outskirts of the town, and 
right glad was he to return, when his watch was finished, 
and report to his superior. It was dull work at best, and 
we are not surprised that watchmen sometimes napped. 
John Grant was called to account before the Ipswich Court 
in 1647 "for sleeping in a barn," and Mark Quilter and 
Thomas Willson, "for going into a barn to sleep" while 
on their watch, were reprimanded. In 1692, Hezekiah 
Hodgkins presumed to bring a pack of cards into the 
watch-house to while away the night hours, and was sen- 
tenced to pay a fine of £5.f 

Near the watch-house, another building of frowning 
aspect was erected in 1652, the county prison, which was 
ordered by the Court, as the prison in Boston was not 
sufficient for the colony. The vote of the town was very 

* Mass. Bay Colony Records, 164 J, 1G45, 1647, 1652, 1667. 
t Quarter Sessions Court Records. 



MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 11 

comprehensive, and we are indebted to its minnteness of 
specitication for a very valuable description of the "prison- 
house," as it was called. It was to be twenty feet long 
and sixteen feet wide and the contract required, "3 floors 
of Joyce thick set and well boarded, with partitions abore 
and below, the sides and ends studs and stud space, and 
to clapboard the house round, and to shingle it, and to 
daub it whole wall and all but the gable ends, and to 
underpin the house, and makedores and stayers, and hang 
the dores, and sett in locks." It was specified also that it 
should be built "adjoining to the watch-house, to beequallin 
height and wydness with the watch-house." Forty pounds 
sterling were appropriated for the expense of erection. 
Theophilus Wilson, whose residence was near the present 
Farley house, was appointed to keep the prison until fur- 
ther notice,* and in 1657 the Court ordered that he should 
have " £3 for the 3'ear, and for every person committed 
into the prison 5* and all pris. before they be released 
shall discharge their charges for food and attendance, and 
such as are not able to provide for themselves, shall be 
allowed only bread and water. "f In 1659, Mr. Wilson 
" is apoynted to gett locks to secure the prison & what is 
wanting else to make y^ doors & prison strong. "| 

But locks and bars were not sufficient to make it secure. 
On the morning of the 30th of March, 1662, the worthy 
constable and jailer and the community generally were 
astonished to find that a prisoner had escaped, by jail 
breaking, " the first offence of this nature committed in the 
country." The jailer deposed to the Court, that he " put 
him in prison and lockt the dore fast, and put the hasp 
on to the staple in the outsyde of the dore, which none 
within can unhasp, and left no tooles or meanes of light in 
the prison. "§ Another prisoner escaped, and when rear- 
rested, he explained that he was very cold in the jail, and 
took up some of the floor boards and departed. As there 
is no mention of a chimney in the contract, confinement 
in cold weather must have been particularly cheerless. 

* Quarter Sessions Court Records, 27-7-1653. 
t Quarter Sessions Court Records, March, 1()57. 
X Quarter Sessions Court Records, 9mo., 1G59. 
§ Quarter Sessions Court Records, 1662. 



12 MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 

Evidently some one came and unhasped the door and 
helped the prisoner out in the former case. The Court 
proceeded to enact rigid rules to prevent such offences. 

"Forasmuch as several escapes have been made out of 
prison by the prisoners with the ayd and assistance of 
some ill affected persons, yt is ordered that noe pson shall 
presume hereafter to come within the prison yard nor 
within 20 foote of the prison on the west syde thereof, 
where there is noe fence, upon any pretence whatsoever, 
without particular leave from the keeper while any pris- 
oners are in the prison, upon paine & penaltye to be pro- 
ceeded against as contentious of authority, and abettors 
of malefactors."* 

The old Court Records reveal many secrets of the olden 
time. The Couit held its sessions probably in John Sparks's 
inn, on or near the spot now occupied by the Baker house, 
so called, now owned and occupied by Miss Lucy Slade 
Lord. Frequent items of payment "to the house " occur, 
and the Court order in 1680, that the officers of the Court 
were not to be paid until "the debts due to the ordinaries 
for the entertainment of the Court be discharged," seems 
to point to this conclusion. It is certain that a court- 
house was not built before the following century. Mr. 
Symon Bradstreet, Mr, Samuel Symonds, Major General 
Denison and Maj. William Hathorne were usually the 
judges. 

Many disturbers of the peace and offenders against the 
dignity of the law were arraigned and sentenced, and 
many a man and woman went from the court room to the 
gloomy jail. For the ordinary poor debtors, thieves and 
lawbreakers of the common sort, we feel slight concern, 
but we are moved to pity for one Henry Spenser, who 
ran away from his master, took sundry valuables of his, 
stole a horse and saddle at Andover, and completed his 
course by breaking prison, at Ipswich, who was sentenced 
to be severely whipped and branded in the forehead with 
a letter B and pay a fine of £5.t And we feel great com- 
passion for Samuel Shattnck, Nicolas Phelps, and Joshua 
Buffum, Quakers, who had been absent a Sunday or two 

* Quarter Sessions Court Records, 1661. 
t Quarter Sessions Court Records, 1665. 



MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 13 

from public worship in Salem, and had been apprehended 
by the constable at the Quakers' meeting, who were all 
sentenced to be fined, "and for persisting still in their 
course, & opinion as Quakers the sentence of the Courtis 
they shall be committed to the House of Correction, there 
to be kept untill they give security to renounce their 
opinion or remove themselves out of the jurisdiction."* 
They were led across the Green to the prison, or house of 
correction as it was sometimes styled, as it served for both 
purposes, and then as the law required they were whipped, 
fed on bread and water and compelled to work on hemp 
and flax and no one was allowed to speak to them.j 
They languished in prison several weeks at least and then 
came the edict of the General Court (Oct. 19, 1658) 4 
"Itt is ordered that the Quakers in prison at Ipswich be 
forthwith sent for, Samuel Shattocke, Lawrenc South- 
wick & Cassandra Southwicke his wife, Nicho Phelps, 
Joshua Buflum & .Tosiah Southwicke, enjoined at their 
peril to depart out of this jurisdic. before the first day of 
the Ct. of Election next, which, if they neglect or refuse 
to do, they shall be banished under payn of death." 
Whittier's muse has made their names immortal in " The 
King's Missive," "Cassandra Southwick"and other poems. 
The whipping post and stocks were the grim accessories 
of the prison as instruments of punishment. The site of 
the last whipping post was identified by tradition with a 
certain hollow in the Green, a few rods from the meeting- 
house. It was proposed that the spot should be marked 
by a tree, and when the hole was dug, the stump of the 
old post was discovered. The elm that was planted by 
Mr. Aaron Cogswell and his son, Mr. John H. Cogswell, 
is now well grown. It is the tree nearest the meeting-house 
on the southeast. The stocks were a wooden frame, in 
which the feet of evil doers were fixed and held fast. 
Imprisonment in them involved some discomfort l)ut little 
pain, probably, and exposed the culprit to public ridicule. 
This penalty was reserved for minor oflences. Thus, 
Joseph Fowler, a roystering young fellow, who was always 

* Quarter Sessions Court Records, 1658. 
t Mass. Bay Colony Records, 1656. 
X Mass. Bay Colony Records. 



14 MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 

in mischief, was bound to fjood ])ehaviour, and to sit four 
liours in the stocks, and Benjamin Muzzy for bartering a 
gun to Indians was sentenced to sit four hours in the stocks, 
and pay the Indian his beavers again. John Broadstreet, 
for his misdemeanor in assaulting the Court, was to sit 
one hour.* Daniel Black and his wife were both sentenced 
to the stocks, and were instructed not to miscall each 
other, while so confined. f The precise location of the 
stocks is unknown, but it must have been near by. For 
the whipping, there was an officer appointed annually. 
Francis Jordan was the first incumbent of that position, 
of whom we have record, and he was allowed twenty 
shillings a year.J Jeffrey Skelling was whipped in 1650 
" for divers lyes." Henry Salter, for running away twice 
and stealing, was sentenced to be whipped and " weare a 
lock on his legg, and pay treble damages. "§ Women 
guilty of unchastity felt the lash as well as men, and it 
was generally inflicted together with fines and inprison- 
ment for the grosser offences. 

That old " goal " was the scene of many sad experiences. 
Murderers were imprisoned there until the day of their 
doom delivered them. On the Lecture-day before they 
were hanged, they were taken in their chains to the public 
service of worship. Judge Sewall mentions in his Diary a 
Newbury woman, Esther Rogers, who was thus dealt with. 
On January 16, 1700-1, "Mr. Rogers prai'd for the 
prisoner of death." The sermon on that occasion, he ob- 
serves, was the last preached in the old meeting-house. 
Those under suspicion of witchcraft were guarded there, 
and Giles Corey, who was pressed to death in Salem 
because he refused to plead to the charge of witchcraft, 
made his will within its walls. || Whittier's poem, "The 
Changeling," recounts the fate of Goody Cole of Hampton, 
confined there under sentence of death for being a witch, 
and of the hurried coming of Goodman Ezra Dalton, with 
Justice Sewall's warrant for her release. 

* Quarter Sessions Court Records, 1651. 
t Quarter Sessions Court Records, 1664. 
X Quarter Sessions Court Records, 1650. 
§ Quarter Sessions Court Records, 1673. 
II SewaU'8 Diary. 



MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 15 

" Then throiigh the night the hoof -beats 
Went sounding lilie a flail 
And Goody Cole at cock crow 
Came forth from Ipswich jail." 

It continued to serve its purpose until 1750 when it was 
reputed to be in such a ruinous condition, "and utterly 
insufficient" that the Court ordered it should be used no 
longer.* But a longer lease of life was in store for the 
ancient prison. It was decided subsequently to repair it 
and make it fit for further use. Col. John Choate otfered 
an order which was adopted by the Court, and prescribed 
the exact work to be done. 

" Ordered that the House in Ipswich Heretofore im- 
proved as a Prison be forthwith Repaired by a suitable 
Trench filled with stones round the outside thereof & on 
those Stones a teire of Timber of five or six inches thick 
Raised near the top of the upper lofts of the house at 12 
or 14 inches distance from it well surported by dovetail 
thereto & the space between the House & Timber fill with 
suitable stone with windows through the same for light 
and air to each Room."f 

It was further ordered "that the Prison Frame adjoin- 
ing to the house aforesaid (except the inside of the West 
end) be . . . duly finished as soon as may be with a suit- 
able Cellar under the same." Andrew Burley, Esq., was 
appointed a committee to secure these repairs and £40 
were appropriated. He reported, Sept. 26, 1752, that 
the two lower rooms had been sufficiently repaired and 
strengthened and it was ordered that these rooms might 
again be used as a "common Goal," and that " the garret 
floor be lined underneath with two inch oak Plank." 
Again on July 10, 1753, he informed the Court that he 
had built a fence around the prison, and the keeper's 
house adjoining. It was ordered then that " the two 
lower rooms be plastered overhead" and that " the North 
chamber be finished so as to Accommodate such Prisoners 
as may have the benefit of being under bond to Remain 
within the limits of sd Prison." It was specified that "the 

* General Sessions Court Records, July 10, 1750. 
t General Sessions Court Records, July 9, 1751. 



16 MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 

house adjoining .... with the yard inck)sed by the fence 
aforesaid be the limitts ot said Prison."* 

Mr. Barley's son, Andrew, informed the Court on 
Christmas day, 1753, that his father was dead and the 
repairs were still incomplete. He was instructed to carry 
the work forward, and in the following July, the final 
accounts were settled. It is a noteworthy instance in the 
olden time of the expensiveness of public undertakings. 
Forty pounds sterling were appropriated originally. The 
total cost proved to be two hundred and sixty-eight. 

Singularly enough, after such prolonged and expensive 
repairs, the sheriff reported in 1769 that the Goal was 
very defective and out of repair, and on December 25, 
1770, plans for a new building with keeper's house were 
presented and approved, and a building committee was 
appointed to proceed forthwith. This plan has been pre- 
served in the Court Files. The committee was instructed 
to negotiate with the town for a proper site. The town 
voted that it would provide a suitable place for the new 
prison on the west end of the county-house, provided that 
the County would relinquish its right in the land on the 
east side of the old house, for building a workhouse. 
Widow Elizabeth Hunt was instructed to remove the house 
she occupied, and clear the ground where the house stands, 
and the shoemaker's shop of Joseph Hodgkins was also or- 
dered away.f These buildings were on the town land. 

The County and Town agreed to "set the Goal at the west 
end of the County House and the Committee of the Town 
of Ipswich have agreed to set off for that purpose at the 
west end of said County House six square rods of land 
bounded beginning at Robert Perkins land, so running 
southwest by the end of said County House three rods, 
thence northwest two rods, northeast three rods, then 
southeast two rods to first bounds. Provided the County 
relinquish their right to the land the old Goal now stands. "f 

This exchange of land was made, additional land was 
purchased of Robert Perkins, who owned and lived on the 
spot now occupied by Mr. John H. Cogswell's residence, 
and the prison was built at once. On March 31, 1772, 

* General Sessions Court Records, 
t Town Records. 



MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 17 

the Justices viewed and approved the building, and 
ordered that "tlie two lower rooms and the two chambers 
be henceforth made use of as his Majesty's Goal in this 
County, and that the upper apartment be for a House of 
Correction." The plan shows that the prison was a two- 
story building with gambrel roof, and that the rooms 
under the roof were used for the House of Correction. 

In October of the same year, the County bought of 
Robert Perkins, to enlarge the yard of the new Goal and 
County House, "a certain piece of land containing 31 
rods which is bounded southwest on land whereon the 
said new Goal . . . now stands, and land beh)nging to 
said Town of Ipswich, six rods, fifteen and a half feet, 
southeast on land beh)nging to Nathaniel Hovey, four 
rods, fourteen feet, northeast on land of widow Sarah 
Pidcifer six rods two and a half feet, northwest on said 
Robert Perkins land four rods one foot, with one other 
small piece thereto contiguous at the westerly corner 
thereof and containing 232 square feet, extemling twenty- 
four feet westerly from the afore mentioned in length, and 
ten feet in breadth rearward from said first mentioned line 
continued on westward twenty-four feet as aforesaid."* 

The County found the small attic rooms insufficient for 
the County House and l)ought the Dumraer Jewettf prop- 
erty on the South side and erected a new building for 
prison use in 1790 and 1791. Land on Green street was 
bought and a new jail built of stone, near the present 
House of Correction, in 1806, and in 1808, the old Goal 
site, with its yard, was sold to Rev. David Tenney Kim- 
ball. The deed gives the bounds as follows ; 

" beginning at the East corner by land of Daniel Hol- 
land southwest on land of heirs of Nath. Kinsman deed. 
80 feet to land of Inhabitants of Ipswich, northwest 78 
feet 3 in,, thence on land belonging to said inhabitants 
running south west to the training field or Common, thence 
running north west, 63 ft. 4 in. on said Common, thence 
running north east on said Common and land of David 
Pulsifer to the corner of the old goal yard by his land, 

* Essex Co. Deeds, book 130, leaf 247. 

t The ancient house on the Edward Wildes estate. The prison was on the Bite 
of the adjoining house. 

2 



18 MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 

thence south east on said Pulsifer's land 24 feet, thence 
north east 51 feet, on said Pulsifer's land to land of said 
Daniel Holland, thence running south east 101 feet 6 in. 
on said Holland's land to bounds first mentioned," the 
goal reserved to be taken away Jan. 1, 1808.* 

Mr. Kimball enlarged his lot in the following year by 
purchasing of the town a small piece bounded on two 
sides by his own land and on the third by the Common 
and the })ound.| 

These details enable us to locate the ancient and the 
more modern prisons with much accuracy. The present 
dividing line, between the Kimball estate and Mr. John 
H. Cogswell's, turns at a right angle about sixty-six feet 
from the front line, and after running twenty feet south- 
east, resumes its former course and extends fifty-eight 
feet to the rear corner of the Kimball land. Mrs. J. Q. 
Peabody remembers that her father, to accommodate Mr. 
John Howe Boardman, the owner of the Cogswell property, 
set his fence some four or five feet back from the line 
specified by his deed. If a line, parallel to the present 
line, and five feet nearer Mr. Cogswell's residence, be 
prolonged into the Green, we have the northwest limit of 
the jail premises of 1770, and a parallel line, two rods to 
the southeast, indicates the northwest bound of the ancient 
prison lot, while the lot on the northeast side of the 
Chapel was undoubtedly part of the old prison yard, which 
was surrendered to the town by the agreement made in 
1771. The watch-house was adjacent to the old prison. 
The prison of 1770 occupied in part, at least, the site of the 
Kimball homestead, and the ancient prison of 1652 was 
very near it. A large flat rock some fifteen feet in front of 
the Kimball fence covers the well of the prison of 1771, 
and it may have provided water for the original Goal. 
With the keeper's house and the enclosing fences, a large 
portion of the present corner of the Green must have been 
occupied. We must remember, of course, that the present 
road in front of the Cogswell and Peabody residences is 
comparatively modern. There was nothing more than a 
rutted driveway, which provided an approach to the 
houses. 

* Essex Co. Deeds, book 185, le:if 152. 

t Essex Co. Deeds, book ISO, leaf 71, April 12, 1809. 



MEETING HOUSE GKEEN. 19 

We have uieutioiied that the ancient watch-house was 
set near the pound. That corner of the old Green was 
utilized for so many purposes that we are bewildered by 
any attem|)t at exact location. Thus in 1655, Hum- 
phrey Gri (fin had liberty to set up a " shamballs " or 
slaughter house, about twenty feet square, by the pound. 
This grant was followed by another, in 1664, to Major 
General Denison, " soe much ground by the pound and 
his own fence as 30 foot long and 20 foot l)road to sett up 
a cow-house," and another of twelve feet " at the west end 
of his barn to the pound," in 1679.* To accommodate 
Thomas Fossey, the goal-keeper, " Four rods near the 
Prison, by Mr. Wilson's barn, formerly so called and 
bounded by stakes," were carved out of the old Green for 
his residence, in 1692, and, in 1703, Samuel Graves, Jr. 
was granted liberty to remove his hatter's shop, "and to 
sett it some place about ye pound, where the selectmen 
shall appoint, and ye sd Graves to remove sd shop off said 
Ground of ye Towne, whenever the Town shall see cause." 

In 1722 John Wainwright Esq. was desired to wait on 
the Justices of the Qiuirter Sessions Court and make sale, 
if possible, of the Fossey house, as a residence for the 
jailer ; and the house, then in possession of Sam. Graves. 
He conferred with the Court as instructed, and Col. John 
Appleton, Dan' Rogers and flno. Whipple were desired 
"to treat with said Fosdike's heirs ab* ye same and know 
the lowest Term it may ])e had for & whether y Town 
will give a Grant of y*^ Land where ye Prison is, & such 
addition of lind as may be necessary & y'' Report thereof 
may be made to ye next Sessions at Salem. "f No report 
is recorded, but the County evidently came into posses- 
sion of the land, as it was deeded back to the Town in 
1771. It seems likely that the Fossey and Graves houses 
were on or near the land now owned by the heirs of Rev. 
D. T. Kimball. 

Very early in the eighteenth century, the question of 
an almshouse, or workhouse, as it was often called, was 
debated, and on Feb. 3, 1717, the town voted that "an 

* Denison owned the property now owned by the heirs of John Perkins and 
W. H. Graves, 
t General Sessions Ct. Records, March 27, 1722. 



20 MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 

Aims-House or convenient House for ye Poor be built, 
To be a logg house of about 40 foot long, about 16 foot 
wide, about 6 foot high w"' a flatt roof as may be sut- 
able." It was voted in 1719, that it should be set "in ye 
lane towards Pindars," ?'. e. Loney's Lane, but evidently 
the attraction of the pound was too great to be overcome, 
as in 1731* we find mention of the " alms house adjoining 
to the Pound." But it was not an attractive place of 
residence for the poor, or there were few poor to be 
housed, and the spacious log house was available for other 
uses. So William Stone, who by reason of sickness was 
no longer able to support himself by fishing, asked leave 
to use a room there to teach reading and writing to the 
youth, and this was granted in the year 1722. Shortly 
before this, the Town voted that a school should not be 
kept in the Town House, and this oflTer of the debilitated 
fisherman may have oftered a providential solution of the 
school-question. 

For some reason, the old Town seems to have been 
inclined to resort to many makeshifts in regard to a 
proper school building. As early as 1714 it was voted 
that " the watch-house should be improved during the 
Summer by some person who will undertake the teaching 
of young children to read;" and, in the next year, the 
query was, if there were not some woman, who was 
ready to make this use of the old watch-house. Again 
in 1731, the almshouse was resorted to, when Henry 
Spillar was granted the use of a room at the southerly 
end for "his teaching and instructing youth in reading, 
writing & cyphering." In 1733 he was granted £12 for 
his school-keeping. This almshouse seems to have be- 
come too old for service of any sort in 1770, when the 
location of a new one was debated at the same time the 
new prison was projected, and some proposed that it 
should be at the southeast end of the old county house, 
" provided the Town will be moving the Pound and take 
down the Alms House which is now rotten, & settle the 
bounds between the Town land and Capt. Tread well,"* 
but in 1784 the Selectmen were requested to sell it. 

Capt. Treadwell was the owner of the Denison prop- 

* Town Records. 



MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 21 

erty, which was owned later by Nathaniel Lord, Jr., and 
then by Mr. »Tohn Perkins, whose heirs still own the 
corner where his late dwelling stands. The Green origi- 
nally reached far into this lot, as we have noticed, and as 
late as about 1850, the present line was established. In 
the olden time, a stone wall enclosed it, and in 1702, 
when the new meeting house had been built, a spasm of 
kindly regard for the horses, during the time of service, 
possessed the hearts of the fathers, and they voted that 
sheds might be set up on the Green near the old meeting 
house, but their second thought was better, and Nicholas 
Wallis was allowed a place by this stone wall for a shed. 
The original vote permitted a shed to be built " about 20 
foot from ye Watch House, southerly toward the old Meet- 
ing House." As the watch-house was near the present 
chapel, any approximation to a southerly direction from it 
would require the location of the second meeting-house and 
fort near the present roadway, on the southeast side of 
the meetmg-house. 

Our survey cannot be completed without a glimpse at 
the small grass plot, in front of the Methodist meeting- 
house. Here the first Town-house was built. The order 
of the Town, Dec. 28, 1704, specified a building about 32 
feet long, about 28 feet wide, about 18 or 19 feet stud, 
'' with a fiat roof raised about 5 foot." A school-room was 
finished in the lower part, and the upper was used for a 
court-room and for town meetings. It was replaced by a 
new building, erected at the joint expense of Town and 
County, in 1793-94, a much more pretentious structure 
with a high belfry or steeple. It stood with its rear end 
close to the high ledge, which has been blasted to its pres- 
ent level, but which was originally as high as the eaves of 
the building itself. Thus, in close proximity to prison, 
stocks and whipping post, the Courts held their stately 
sessions from 1704 to 1854, when they ceased their sit- 
ting's, and the house was sold and removed to the corner 
near the railroad station. It was utilized by Mr. James 
Damon for a hall and stores, and was totally destroyed by 
fire, April 14, 1894. Famous judges sat in the bar ; great 
lawyers, Webster, Choate and Story, made their pleas ; 
momentous cases were decided under its roof. 



22 MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 

Near the old Town-house, at its easterly end, by vote of 
the Town, permission to erect a building, fifty feet long and 
twenty-five feet Avide, was given to a number of subscribers 
in November, 1774, "for the encouragement of military dis- 
cipline," and during the cold days of winter the Minute Men 
were schooled in the manual of arms, in preparation for 
the war that was then regarded as inevitable, and, by a 
singular coincidence, the room in the neighboring brick 
building, occupied by the Post Office, served as a recruit- 
ing headquarters during the Civil War. 

Thus the Green is full of memories, from the earlier to 
the later times. Hither the hogs were driven in the morn- 
ing, and the swine-herd, Abraham War with Goodman 
Symmes drove them to the town-commons;* and, at the 
sound of the cow-herd Haniel Bosworth's horn, blown on 
the Green soon after sunrise, the cows of the neighborhood 
were gathered there, that they might be driven in a herd 
to the public pasture lands outside the town limits. f 
Great gatherings have assembled on its ledges and grassy 
slopes. From the ledge nearest the meeting-house, as 
the tradition is, Whitefield preached to thousands, hushed 
to solemn stillness. When Lafayette was welcomed, the 
meeting-house was filled with the throng of citizens who 
paid him honor. Here the militia gathered for their peri- 
odic trainings, and the training days were great days, with 
the pomp and parade of the military and the tents of fakirs 
and cheap showmen. Ordination days were grand occa- 
sions too, with their festal accompaniment of booths for 
eating and drinking. 

Happily the noblest associations are the most constant. 
Hither the people have come to worship since the begin- 
nings of the town life, and here, the schoolchildren stray- 
ing a liltle from the old watch-house, the ancientalmshouse, 
the town-house and the old gambrel-roofed school buildinjr 
that stood where the present Denison school now stands, 
have found a pleasant playground for two centuries. 

• Town Records, 1653. t Town Records, 1661. 



HOUSES AND LANDS NEAR THE MEETING 
HOUSE GREEN. 



It was recorded, in 1639, that Theophilus Wilson's 
house lot was purchased of John Sanders, and that it was 
bounded on the southeast by the lot of Robert Mosey. 
We may presume that Sanders and Mosey, or Muzzey, 
were the original grantees. The Sanders-Wilson prop- 
erty included the tract bounded by the Green, North Main 
and Summer streets, and, nearly enough for our present 
purpose, by a line extending from the chapel to Summer 
street. The Mosey or Muzzey property was bounded by 
this line, on the northwest, by Summer and County streets. 
Whether it ever included the remainder of the square 
bounded by Green street and the Green, is a matter of 
doubt. But we know that Major General Denison owned 
the lot bounded by Muzzey, County street, Green street 
and the Meeting House Green in 1648.* 

Theophilus Wilson, aged about eighty-eight years, as 
the deed recites, sold his dwelling, orchard and land to 
John Lovell, July 29, 1689. f John Lovell, shoemaker, 
sold to his father, Thomas Lovell, a currier by trade, 
Feb. 8, 16944 The elder Lovell divided the lot, and 
sold William Donnton, mariner, the northeast portion, 
Aug. 1, 1695. § This lot was bounded by Main street, 
Summer street, then known as Annable's Lane, originally 
Stony street, and the former Muzzey property, then owned 
by Samuel Dutch. He exchanged the remainder for 
another estate, with his son, Alexander, Oct. 16, 1697. |1 
Alexander Lovell conveyed " my old dwelling house and 

* Ipswich Deeds, book 1, leaf 149. t Ipswich Deeds, book 5, leaf 299. 

X Essex Co. Deeds, book 10. § Essex Co. Deeds, book 13, leaf 60. 

II Essex Co. Deeds, book 20, leaf 91. 

(23) 



24 HOUSES AND LANDS NEAR 

part of my homestead, which was Mr. Wilson's late of 
Ipswich " and about forty square rods of land to Samuel 
Chapman, mariner, Dec, 1715.* 

The deed to Chapman is the first to give measurements, 
and it informs us that the frontage on the Green was six 
rods lacking one foot, and that the southeast bound was a 
line extending from the Green to theDonnton land, about 
two and a half feet from the easterly end of the dwelling. 
This line coincides with the present dividing line between 
the Farley and Cogswell properties, and it defines the 
location of the old Theophilus Wilson house very satisfac- 
torily. Making allowance for gradual encroachment on 
the Green, the house stood, at least, a rod back from the 
present front fence, and about two feet from the fence 
which sejiarates the two estates. 

This corner lot was sold by Chapman to Joseph Foster, 
Nov. 2, 1726, 1 and bv him to Joseph and Jeremiah Per- 
kins, Jan. 26, 1726-27. | It continued many years in the 
Perkins line. James Perkins owned and occupied the 
southeast half of the house and land in 1795, and sold 
the same to Joseph Perkins of Newburyport, in February 
of that year,§ and a James Perkins bequeathed one undi- 
vided half of the whole estate to his sister, Susanna Ken- 
dall, and the other to his nephew, Isaac Perkins, in 1818. || 
Dr. George Chadwick purchased one half from the admin- 
istrator of Susanna Kendall, and the other from Francis 
Butler and wife of Farmington, Jan. 5, 1831.11 Chadwick 
sold to Robert Farley, April 25, 1839,** who transferred 
it to Joseph K. Farley, April 29, 1842. ft Mr. Farley 
sokl the old house, which was removed to Pingree's Plain, 
and built the present mansion, which was occupied by his 
widow until her death. 

Alexander Lovell had built a new dwelling, probably 
before he sold the old Wilson homestead in 1715. He 
sold a part of his lot on the southeast side, bounded by 
the pound on the southwest, to Nathaniel Hovey, Nov. 3, 



♦ Essex Co. Deeds, book 30, leaf 187. t Essex Co. Deeds, book 48, leaf 195. 

I Essex Co. Deeds, book 49, leaf 206. § Essex Co. Deeds, book 158, leaf 262. 

II Essex Co. Prolmte Records, book 393, leaf 332. 

TI Essex Co. Deeds, book 260, leaf 161. ** Essex Co. Deeds, book 312, leaf 295. 
tt Essex Co. Deeds, book 332, leaf 47. 



THE MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 25 

1739,* and he gave a small lot fronting on the Green, 
eighteen feet front and forty feet deep, "12 foot from the 
southeast end of my dwelling house," to his daughter 
Sarah Pulsipher, and her husband Joseph Pulsipher, Oct. 
21, 1746. t He bequeathed one-half of his house and land 
to Jonathan Wells, his son-in-law, and the other to Joseph 
Pulsipher.! Pulsipher or Pulcifer acquired the other half 
by purchase Dec. 24, 1747, from William Pulcifer and 
Mary his wife, daughter of Lovell,§ and Jonathan Wells, j 
Abraham Tilton sold the southeast half to Robert Per- 
kins March 7, 1761, || and the deed specified that the line 
of division began at the middle of the house, ran through 
the house aud the middle of the well. This well is in the 
rear of Mr. Cogswell's resideuce. Its location indicates 
that the house, which Alexander Lovell built, was a little 
northwest of the preseut dwelling. Perkins sold land to 
the County for the new jail of which mention has already 
been made,1[ now owned by the heirs of Rev. David T. 
Kimball, Oct. 29, 1772,** and conveyed his title in the 
remainder of the estate to Stephen Lord, March 6, 1793. ft 
Lord sold to Thomas Kimball, mariner, April 23, 1795, JJ 
who also purchased from Sarah Safford the small rectan- 
gular piece, eighteen feet by forty, which she had received 
from her father, July 16, 1796. §§ One item of peculiar 
interest attaches to this deed. It defines the land in ques- 
tion as bounded by the Green on the southwest. The 
line then extended northeast by the land occupied by the 
prison, seventeen feet, and so on the same course, twenty 
three feet to Kimball's land. The conclusion seems nat- 
ural that the line of the Green at that time touched the 
present fence between the Cogswell and the Kimball prop- 
erties, seventeen feet from the northeast corner of the fence. 
The distance from this corner to the present line of the 
Green is sixty-one feet seven inches, or forty-four feet 
farther into the Green. As the line was indefinite, and un- 
marked by fences or bounds, encroachment was easy, and 

* Essex Co. Deeds, book 88, leaf 277. t Essex Co. Deeds, book 106, leaf 90. 
t Essex Co. Probate Records, book .327, leaves 306-309. 

§ Essex Co. Deeds, book 104, leaf 132. || Essex Co. Deeds, book 109, leaf 116. 
IT Cf. " The Meeting House Green." ** Essex County Deeds, book 130, leaf 247. 
tt Essex Co. Deeds, Look 155, leaf 201. U Essex Co. Deeds, book 160, leaf 32. 
§§ Essex Co. Deeds, book 160, leaf 272. 



26 HOUSES AND LANDS NEAR 

record remains of a grant, soon to be noted. Thomas 
Kimball sold to David Pulcifer, Nov. 6, 1798,* who ac- 
quired a small tract in the rear of Elizabeth Holland, 
July 30, 1812. t 

In the meantime, Sarah Safford, widow of Joseph Pul- 
cifer, of Campton, Moses Jewett of New Milford, Israel 
Eliot Pulcifer of Beverly, and Samuel Little of Beverly, 
executed a deed of the northwest half of the house with 
land to Aaron Perkins, Jun., cooper, Nov. 7, 1797,:}: who 
transferred it to Daniel Holland, March 13, 1802. § On 
the night of June 9, 1811, the house took fire and was 
burned with most of its contents, and a boy, Abraham 
Burnham, who died at a good old age a few years since, 
slee|)ing in the house was forgotten until the last moment. 
Captain Pulcifer proceeded at once to rebuild and made 
request that his line might be extended into the Green ten 
feet. In view of the great loss he had suffered, the town 
generously granted it,||and the widow Holland was equally 
favored. 

Separate houses were now built by the widow Holland 
and Capt. Pulcifer. He sold his house and land to John 
How Boardman, April 4, 1826, 1[ and it came by inheri- 
tance to his son, Mr. Aaron Cogswell, the excellent school 
teacher for many years, and his grandson, xMr. John How 
Cogswell, the present owner. Mrs. Holland in due time 
became Mrs. Gage, wife of Samuel N. Gage, of Rowley, 
but survived her second husband. The executor of her 
estate sold it to Aaron Cogswell, May 24, 1841,** and the 
house was removed by Mr. John H. Cogswell to the cor- 
ner of County and Green streets a few years since. 

Rev. David Tenney Kimball, who had recently begun 
his pastorate with the First Church, bought the land owned 
by the County and occupied as a prison on Jan. 1, 1808, 
and erected the spacious and comfortable parsonage Avhich 
still stands. For many years the most liberal hospitality 
was dispensed. Miss Zilpah Grant and Miss Mary Lyon 
were much here, when the Female Academy was just 

♦ Essex Co. Deeds, book 163, leaf 223. t Essex Co. Deeds, book 199, leaf 141. 
t Essex Co. Deeds, book 164, leaf 229. § Essex Co. Deeds, book 171, leaf 50. 
II Town Records, Feb. 4, 1811. IT Essex Co. Deeds, book 241, leaf 161. 

** Essex Co. Deeds, book 326, leaf 165. 



THE MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 27 

beginning its noble work. Famous ministers tarried a 
little while as they travelled or exchanged with the worthy 
pastor, Lyman Beecher, Calvin Stowe, Leonard Woods, 
and many another. Catharine Beecher and Ann Hazel- 
tine Judson, N. P. Willis, Garrison, Rufus Choate, Caleb 
Cushing and Daniel Webster, tasted the good cheer. 

William Donnton, we mentioned, bought the lot on the 
corner of North Main and Summer streets, in 1695. The 
deed mentions no building of any sort, only a plain hun- 
dred rods out of Mr. Wilson's houselot. Donnton built 
a home for himself, and it stood until a few years since, a 
low-roofed, big-chimneyed dwelling house, picturesque in 
its simplicity, a venerable landmark, whose disappearance 
we may well regret. On Nov. 5, 1721, Robert Perkins and 
Elizabeth, his wife, one of the daughters of William 
Donghton, deceased, sold their interest in the estate to 
Joseph Holland, mariner, their "loveing brother-in-law."* 
The deed conveyed house, barn and outbuildings with a 
measurement on Annable's lane, of twelve rods and eight 
feet, to a stake. Holland was a fisherman, and had a 
privilege in a certain fishing stage, and flake-room, on the 
southward side of Jefiry's Neck, next adjoining to the 
stage of William Wilcomb.f 

The executors of Mary Holland, widow of Joseph, sold 
the property to Dr. Francis Holmes, Jan. 1, 1765. | After 
the death of Dr. Holmes, the estate was divided by order 
of the Probate Court. The homestead or a two-thirds 
interest was set off to his son, John. The widow had a 
right of dower in another house, which had been built 
where Mr. Sayward's house now stands, also in a house 
lot, which had been divided from the original lot on Anna- 
ble's lane, John Holmes sold his interest in the home- 
stead to tToshua Blanchard of Boston, April 11, 1767, § 
Avho sold in turn to Ezekiel Dodge, Aug. 20, 1775. || 
Anna Dodge, widow and administrator of Ezekiel, sold 
the same two-thirds interest to Ezekiel Dodge, painter, 
July 5, 1789.11 Ezekiel sold one half his interest to Anna 

* Essex Co. Deeds, book 41, leaf 24. 

t Essex Co. Deeds, book 38, leaf 271, 1721-2. 

J Essex Co. Deeds, l)00k 106, leaf 195. § Essex Co. Deeds, book 121, leaf 246. 

I| Essex Co. Deeds, book 135, leaf 53. IT Essex Co. Deeds, book 158, leaf 132. 



28 lU^IlSI'uM ANI> I.ANKS NKAK 

Hod^t*. .Imu^ l.>, IVli."^* AiiMji miuI Siinih hodi^o, dmi^li- 
torn itf Aniin, ,st>M (Iumt iiiUMi>s| lo l'i/.«>lvi«'l, Sept. 1*1, 
l.SIO.f M/,««kitNl sold llu^ lull two-lliirds and t»u«'-lirth o{' 
rtMiuiiniii;!;' part 1«) Maiiinii«:^ l>(tdi;»*, (MiarloK*^ and Mary 
I>(>di2;«>, Marcli 1*1, ISi'.'l.j Tlu' lu'irs ol" Mauirnii»; |)od«>;o 
Mold (o Mr. 'riuMMJon^ l'\ (\»s;s\v«>ll in h^HS, Apiil •{,§ ami 

tlM^ luMIMO was loin dt>\Vliat (>IUM>Mlld |Im> pil'Sflll ITsidtMU'O 

of Mr. HtMir^'o 10. l''arloy was «mo(I»mIom llic Haiuc .sitii. 
Mai'v ll()lllu^M, widow o\' l>r. Ilnlnu's, sold Imm- t^tpiily in 
|Im» holls^^ sho ooiMipiod (o Ium' Sim, .loliii, Maroli 11, I77l>.|| 
lit* (I'aiiMloiTod it to Vima notlt^**, Ap»"iloO. 17'.>1.* Man- 
nii\i!, I >od;;t> Mold it, willi land, lo .loliii How noai'dmaii, 
flan. S, 1S'J7.1 llo Mold it to MaiiMitiu; Podiio ayaiu, .\ii<j:. 
2^, 1S;»i*. \v1u> h-ansriMTiMJ it to (^ipl. .lolin Loid .'mI, on 
tlu^ saiuo day.** Il wax plM'^'lla.s(^d I:i1«m- l)y Pr. Isaao 
l*MirlilMor, wlu» laiilt tlu^ lioiist* now occiipit'd l»y Mi-. S;iy- 
waiil, in IS,M)-(»0. (i. 1<\ l<Michtnt>r honuhl tlio ii\lor»<sl 
oftlu^ othor hoii's, April. ISSO.t | and noM lo Mr. Cliailos 
A. Sayward in ISSl.jj Tlu^ old lions.- wms niovtnl to 
\\'aMhinj;l(M» strrt^l, and is owntnl l)y lln- lu-iis of tlu< lat^^ 
Mi*-lia«^l lx(«:id\ . 

W lioi\ lln* I lolnnvs os|;il<' was divid«Ml, nuMillon w;is niado 
o( a Inniso lot llial had Ixhmi slaUt-d oil :il llu* lo\vt>r vn*! 
»>r tho li>l ttn Annal»U»'s Lan**. This roinainr«l in poss»<s- 
wion ol' tluN lloln»^^s Innrs, an>l on ,)nm> 10, ISO."?, Sarah 
llolnu<s, wi<low ol'.lolui.sold il lo IviMti.'unin K indtall, >lnn. v^ v^ 
Ho Iniill a honso, and soM land and lions(\ SopI . o, 1S(),>, 
t(t Klisha (ion Id. II || Ho sold loCapl. Haniid LaktMnMn, (>i-|. 
*io, ISM ini (\iplain liaUonjan soKl llu' notlliwrsi liall'tir 
iUo lionstN wi(i\ a narr(»w tVonla^i^ lo ,l;nni<s Slanit'oril May 
(i, ISIU't.*** ri\o l•«Mn;»indl^^ ot tho [U'optM'ty was st'oni»>d 
at a lattw dato. ll is «)wnod si ill by tho Sl!inil\>id 

Tho dooil of salt* iVoni Iho wid*»w Mary lloll.-nul lo Hi-. 
Hohntvs oivt^s lh»< land »>! widow I'Mi/aholh I'lillor as iho 

* Kiwax Co, Ooodrt, iioKk \>Ns, lo«i' uw. I K.tao\ r». Oooiis. Look I'.m, lo.-ir.Vi. 

t Kii«tv\ Oo, Uootlti, K>i>k -.W, loiif Wi. § K.^rtOX t\>. 1>00(Im, lnu>k 1JH>, lonfMM. 

II KHi>t>\ Co. l>ooiU, IvooK I.N7, lonf -JU. 'I Ksoox Co, l>oo»l.s, Itook .MS, lonf JA^J. 
♦* KaaoN Co, Ooods, >>ook OW, lonf^'iiC. tt K'««o\ t'o, Ooodtt, ht.ok las.%, loHf CO, 
II Kiiti«»v «'», Oooits. liook liV>l, loaf l-.M, S§ Ksnon Co, l>ooil.t. l>ooK. IT'.', loaf JS, 
llll K««to\ l"o, l>ooa«, >>ook 174. loaf 17'J, ^m K!t,io\ Co, Ooodt*. lu>olv U>,\ loaf U. 
*>■•♦ IC!4i»«ix i\>, Uomlit, liookdW. loaf -JU'. 



nil IMK.K I IN«) IIOHMK (lUKKN. 29 

,s»iu|Ih>iimI iilMillt'i [ l/.'i.O. 'riuM<' is M sliflil. oiroi ii.i l»» 

{\\0 DWIMMsllip ill lllill (mU\ MM lIlO widow I'llllcl lioltl IwM" 

lioiiMt* Miiil li»t «Mi Vo\>. :' I , l<,>l l(» I'lmmiis I'l oiulwt'll. * 
His willow rcltiiiKMl hoiiio itxniiM iii (h«> Iumino, mikI pint ol* 
llu> ImihI, l»y \\oy i\;<\\{ «)!' iI(»w«m', wIioii IIm^ <>«ImIo wmn ,s«>l(l 
(o Imiimt |)otli;o, .Inly M), I ('(•/. | (\>l. .loHcpli I li)(l|>lviiiH 
Moiil liic cIiuIuImM' tllld /L^liri'tl nl llu^ »lw cllin;', niul ( w o (IiiiiIm 
ol llir tH>lliir, " IxMii*.', ( lu> w lioli* ol llit> »hv«»llm,", i>l TlumiMM 

'rr«>lul\Voll, 0\«'0|l| wlllll W tlH S«^( (ill' IIIkI IIHHi;.>IMMl Io \vitl(>W' 

K,m|Ii(>i rr«'iulw«<ll." l(» Simmol Sloiie, Miiy 1.M1, I71MJ. Sloiio 
lt(»ii;.'lil lli«> Wiilimro »>r (lu^ omIhIo, ^\^^. 'i-'fi, ISOI.j iViiiii 
|)r. .loliii IM.'iiiniii^'. U'oIxmI I'miIim w.mm im |»(tM;u>Msu>ii lulor 
lUid sold lo l'//,olvioll)(ul;,>v. .Inn.'. M:l^ II, iS'.'.i.^^ Ili.i 
dMn<.>lilor iniin'i«Ml NolKMiiitili IIuhKoII, wIiomo linri Mlill 
t»w n llio |>iop«>rly . 

'^l»«^ TrtMidwi'll osliilt* Mi»cni) lo li!i\<^ inclndtMl llic iid 
joiniii;' |iio|i(mU now owned l»y Pr. ^^ illuiin II. I\nMM(^ll. 
('ol. .lost'pli llodi'lvinM iind Ids w ir«\ livdiii. widow ol" 
lOliMliM 'ri'tMidwtdl, d(<«Ml(«d oiKt liidf llio hind iind Iioiin*^ (<» 
Slt'pluMi Low, Iind llio oIIkm' liiiir l(t liis wir«\ Siiridi. on 
M.ii.li :".>. I Si.':., II h WMM inli.-rilrd l.y Ids son. W inl In ..p. 
Iind l>y l>r. ICiiMSrll iVoin linn. 'V\\o liiiNsrll prop«Ml\ is ii. 
piirl (»l t li(> imcitMil 'rii(<opliiliiH W ilson ('mIiiIo, I hi I (lie I >tin 
i«^l (MiirU hons<< iind liind wmm purl ol llm M<>c(tiid (Mi;i;iniil 
divinitMi. 

l\ol»«>rl lMn/,,',oy, wo ll;l\(^ s(M>n, iippciiM lo Ii;i\o Ihmmi IIm^ 
ori^iniil <;rMiilo»' td llii> stMonil Mock ol lliis •.(|iimi(\ Iml 
Miillliow WiiippltN WHS ill poss^^MHnnl w litwi li<^ di(>d, iihIIio 
\\v\ . Nidluinitd Iv'i »,'.',« mm, iind lli<< oMuir «>\o('nloi>t id' \\'liip 
pU^'s will. Hold (o IxoltnrI W liilniiin, lor i'.'t, ii lioiisii iind nil 
ticrc or<>i'onnd, ltonnd«td Im \\'ilMoniiiid I >(niison, tiinl piih- 
lit' ways. Miiy .'. ICIS.IJ W liil iniin sold d lo Wdliiini 
I >oin'liiss, i'oop<M', l.i April, I (').S'.!. * * U'oliorl [>nl«li. Iisln^^ 
niiin, WMM ill posMi^ssion in I (!(i(), ms m in(Ml,'.';M|i»(i dood iniikoH 
cvitliMil . I I No iiKMilitni oI'm lionst^ is lllnd(^ in I his d«>(Ml. niid 
{\u\ rorinrr (InMip d w (dlin<' Ihid had Im'oii l)i)n<.>;hl willinii 
iUM'o (d hind lor l.) in IlilS h.'id cnl irrl \ diMapp<^Hr«'d . In 

I (>7(>, I >nl eh t'onveyiMl lo his son S.Minnrl ahonl a tjiiMi lor oi' 

* KHHt^v <i(i, DhoiIh, IhiiiU 1(17, linil' \M. \ |t!HMt<\ ( Ni. DtiiMirt, IkmiIi im, lour III. 

I Khhox rii. DoimIm, IiiidI. I'i'II, liwil'h'.V ^ l«hMii\ Cii. DxiMln. liiiiiU 'Jll.'l. Ii'iir 107. 

II Kbmok I'd, I»oimIh, liooU V'JIH, li'M vow '«'»', '.'il, II l|ln^^ll^ll ItoodrJ, lumli I, lonf Mil, 
** l|iMwt(<li DooiIm, liooU I, loHl' I'.'H, It IpHWIcIt Dooilu, litiok 'J, lourtin. 



30 HOUSES AND LANDS NEAR 

an acre, part of his "pasture," bounded by Denison on the 
south, and the highway on the east,* and he sold him the 
balance of the land on Dec. 12, 1683. f This deed speaks 
of his "homestead" as adjoining, and indicates that Samuel 
Dutch had built a house on the County street side of the 
lot. Dutch seems to have met with financial reverses in 
the year 1718, for in that year he mortgaged his dwelling 
to Joseph Boles and John Gains, J and divided his orchard 
into building lots, with an uniform frontage on Annable's 
Lane of three rods. The corner lot where Miss Sarah 
Caldwell's house now stands was sold to Samuel Harris, 
Nov. lst.§ Nathaniel Hovey bought the lot adjoining 
Lovell's land about midway of the Lane, Nov. 5, 1718|| 
and Richard Ringe the adjoining lot on the southeast on 
the same day.Tf Jonathan Pulcifer acquired the lot south- 
east of Ringe on Nov. 17th** and Deborah Lord, spinster, 
the next, Nov. 18, 1718. § Dutch died soon after, and 
his mortgagees sold his mansion-house, warehouse and 
part of his homestead, twelve rods in length on Dutch's 
Lane, as it was commonly called, now County street, April 
3, 1722 to Anthony Attwdod.f t The remaining lot on 
Annable's Lane was sold to Jonathan Pulcifer, Nov. 7, 
1724.1$ 

Hovey enlarged his lot by the purchase of eleven square 
rods, from Alexander Lovell, in the rear of the land sold 
to William Donnton, in 1739. §§ It was owned by Capt. 
Nathaniel Kinsman, and b}'^ his son Capt. John Choate 
Kinsman. The latter sold the house and land to Warren 
Nourse, April 7, 1846, j] |1 who sold half of it to Anna New- 
ton, wife of Aldred Newton, April 18, 1846. ITIf Daniel 
Clark bought one-half the house from Asahel H. Wildes, 
April 24, 1850.*** Mary P., wife of Daniel, acquired the 
other half, Feb. 30, 1878. fff It is now owned by Mrs. 
Philip E. Clarke. 

The next of the original Dutch lots was sold by Richard 



* Ipswich Deeds, book 5, leaf 193. t Ipswich Deeds, book 5, leaf 231. 

X Essex Co. Deeds, book 36, leaf lO.'i. § Essex Co. Deeds, book 36, leaf 112. 

II Essex Co. Deeds, book 33, leaf 260. IT Essex Co. Deeds, book 49, leaf 259. 

** Essex Co. Deeds, book 35, leaf 81. ft Essex Co. Deeds, book 40, leaf 76. 

Xt Essex Co. Deeds, book 44, leaf 57. §§ Essex Co. Deeds, book 88, leaf 277. 

nil Essex Co. Deeds, book 366, leaf 77. ^V Essex Co. Deeds, book 369, leaf 127 

*** Essex Co. Deeds, book 471, leaf 256. ttt Essex Co. Deeds, book 993, leaf 4. 



THE MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 31 

Ringe, heir of Richard, who had bought in 1718, with a 
house, to John Finder, Jan., Feb. 5, 17H0.* His widow, 
Sarah, sold to Wm. Leatherland, Jan. 3, 1799. f By order 
of Probate Court, Clias. A. Say ward, as guardian of Jacob 
Leatherland, insane, sold the property, and it was pur- 
chased by Daniel Clark, Feb. 21, 1872. | It is now owned 
by his son, Philip E. Clark, whose cabinet shop and un- 
dertaker's establishment occupies the site of the old house. 

We observed that Jonathan Pulcifer purchased the next 
lot in 1718, when the Samuel Dutch property was divided 
into house lots, and another in 1724. He seems to have 
owned a continuous frontage to the corner now occupied 
by Miss Sarah P. Caldwell's residence. His heirs appar- 
ently sold the house now owned by Theodore H. Howe to 
Richard Lakeman, May 14, 1796. § He sold to Daniel 
Lakeman,§ and Daniel transferred to Jane Gould, wife 
of Elisha Gould, Oct. 23, 1811. |1 The Goulds sold to 
Elizabeth Fuller, Nov. 23, 1827,11 and Reuben Daniels 
sold it to Chas. H. Howe, May 16, 1867.** 

Bickford Pulcifer sold Jonathan Lakeman, a house and 
six square rods of land on Annable's lane, surrounded by 
his land, Dec. 28, 1769. ff He acquired the next lot which 
was owned or occupied in 1745 by Solomon Lakeman, |J 
and in 1793, March 11, he bought of Bickford Pulcifer, 
the land that fronts on County street, then known as 
Dutch's lane, and later as Cross street, and extended back 
of the lots on Annable's lane. His heirs by mutual quit- 
claims divided his estate. His daughter Margaret, wife 
of Jedediah Chapman, received the house next to the 
Howe property, §§ and it is still owned by the Chapman 
heirs. His daughter Abigail, wife of Daniel Jewett, had 
possession of the adjoining house and land, since purchased 
by the heirs of Capt. Sylvanus Caldwell. The land on 
County street was quitclaimed to Lydia, wife of Isaac B. 
Shepard of Salem. || || 

* Essex Co. Deeds, book 163, leaf 23. f Essex Co. Deeds, book 163, leaf 256. 

X Essex Co. Deeds, book 85,5, leaf 157. § Essex Co. Deeds, book 176, leaf 263. 

!| Essex Co. Deeds, book 196, leaf 44. IT Essex Co. Deeds, book 246, leaf 194. 

** Essex Co. Deeds, book 726, leaf 63. ft Essex Co. Deeds, book 158, leaf 72. 
tt Essex Co. Deeds, book 87, leaf 169. 
§§ Essex Co. Deeds, book 266, leaf 280, June 23, 1832. 
nil Essex Co. Deeds, book 266, leaf 129. 



32 HOUSES AND LANDS NEAR 

The corner lot of the Dutch-Muzzey grant was bought 
as was remarked in 1718, by Samuel Harris. He sold it 
to Joseph Bennett, May 8, 1723.* Bennett built a resi- 
dence and occupied it until his death. Sanuiel Ross, Jun., 
one of the heirs, sold a third of a third part of the house 
and land to Joseph Lakeman Ross, Dec. 15, 1789, f and 
he, with Mary, his wife and Mary Bennett, spinster, con- 
veyed the property to Daniel Holland, Oct. 10, 1796.:}: 
He sold to Aaron Perkins, April 13, 1802, § who trans- 
ferred it to Capt. Sylvanus Caldwell, March 12, 1818. || 
His daughter, Miss Sarah P. Caldwell, still occupies the 
comfortable old mansion. 

Samuel Dutch received from his father, Robert Dutch, 
about a quarter of an acre, in 1676.11 He bought the re- 
mainder of the lot in 1683, Dec. 12,** and as this deed 
mentions that the new purchase adjoined his homestead, it 
seems that he had built a dwelling prior to this date. We 
mentioned that in 1718 he sold his land in small building 
lots and mort^ao^ed his house. The morto-agees sold it 
after Dutch's death to Anthony Attwood.f f Attwood sold 
to Ca])t. Stephen Perkins, |$ and his executors conveyed 
it to Henry Morris, Jan. 20, 1733. §§ Morris sold to 
Richard Lakeman, Nov. 20, 1745 (book 87, leaf 169) and 
Lakeman to Bickford Pulcifer, March 18, 1761 (book 
110, leaf 34). Pulcifer sold a quarter acre lot with the 
house, etc., to Nathaniel Perley, Feb. 23, 1774 (book 
132, leaf 193). Benjamin Dutch bought it of Perley, 
May 8, 1778 (book 147, leaf 242) and sold to John Dutch, 
May 27 (book 137, leaf 202). John Dutch conveyed it 
to Dr. John Manning, July 30, 1783 (book 148, leaf 80) 
who sold it to Rev. Ebenezer Dutch of Boxford, Feb. 12, 
1788 (book 147, leaf 124). 

The Rev. Ebenezer sold to his fellow clergyman. Rev. 
Levi Frisbie, Pastor of the First church, June 11, 1788 
(book 147, leaf 242) and in his hands, this property, 
which had been so long in swift transition, remained in 
quiet use as a parsonage for many years. He removed or 

* Essex Co. Deeds, book 43, leaf 152. f Essex Co. Deeds, book 151, leaf 64. 

t Essex Co. Deeds, book 161, leaf 68. § Essex Co. Deeds, book 170, leaf 271. 

II Essex Co. Deeds, book 217, leaf 41. IT Ipswich Deeds, book 5, leaf 193. 

** Ipswich Deeds, book 5, leaf 231. ft Essex Co. Deeds, book 40, leaf 76. 

tt Essex Co. Deeds, book 51, leal 278. §§ Essex Co. Deeds, book 86, leaf 53. 



THE MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 33 

took down the old house and erected the present dwelling. 
Mr. Frishie began to preach as a colleague with Rev. Na- 
thaniel Rogers in 1775, and was installed Feb. 7, 1776. 
If he began his housekeeping when he purchased the house, 
the new parsonage was the scene of a great sorrow, as his 
young wife died on Aug. 21, 1778, after an ilhiess of only 
six days, in the thirty-tirst year of her age. lie continued 
in the pastorate thirty years and died Feb. 25, 1806, hav- 
ing received Rev. David Tenney Kimball as a colleague. 
His widow, Mehitable, daughter of Rev. Moses Hale of 
Newbury, whom he married in 1780, survived him many 
years. She died in 1828, and bequeathed her estate to her 
niece, Hannah and nephew, Joseph Hale.* Joseph Hale 
sold it to Charles Bamford, March 2, 1842f and it remains 
in the possession of his son, Charles W". Bamford. The old 
house has been enlars^ed and chano^ed. 

The third block in this square was owned by Major 
Daniel Denison in 1648, as appears from the deed of the 
Matthew Whipple property to Robert Whitman.^ But 
he sold his earlier house near the mill on the two acre tract 
now occupied by Mr. J. J. Sullivan, Dr. Bailey and 
others, on Jan. 19, 1641, § to Humphrey GrifBn, and it is 
very prol)al)le that he acquired this lot and built his house 
near that date. 

Denison was a very conspicuous figure in the town and 
colony. He married Patience, daughter of Gov. Thomas 
Dudley. He was recognized as a military leader of excep- 
tional ability at once. He was commissioned Captain in 
1636-7, and in 1648, he was regarded as indispensable to 
the safety of the community to such a degree, that a pop- 
ular subscription was raised by one hundred and fifty-five 
citizens, " to allow Major Denison the sum of £24 7s. 
yearly, as long as he shall be their leader, to encourage 
him in his military helpfulness. "§ He was appointed 
Major General of the Colony, eleven years between 1652 
and 1680. In civic affairs, as well, he was very promi- 
nent. He was Representative to the General Court for 
many years, and was Speaker of the House in 1649 and 
1652, a Justice of the Quarter Sessions Court, and anAs- 

* Probate Records, book 406, leaf 493. Felt's History of Ipswich, p. 240. 
t Essex Co. Deeds, book 3-29, leaf 287. X Ipswich Deeds, book 1, leaf 149. 
§ Town Records. 
3 



34 HOTTSES AND LANDS NEAR 

sistant from 1654 to 1682. He was a member of a Com- 
mittee to revise and correct the Colony laws, and was 
frequently a Commissioner for the adjudication of delicate 
public questions. 

His house was probably on or near the site of the resi- 
dence of the late W. H. Graves. It was destroyed by an 
incendiary fire May 3, 1665, which was suspected to be 
the act of a woman servant, who was charged with stealing 
from Denison, and was sentenced to be whipped ten 
stripes for lying about it. A new house was erected, and 
here he lived until his death Sept. 20, 1682, at the age of 
seventy. His will subscribed "manu propria scripsi,Daniel 
Denison," with the inventory appended, is of especial in- 
terest. The inventory lacks that detail which is often 
found, and fails to give us a satisfying view of the various 
rooms of his mansion, but it is worth our notice. It was 
made on the 17th of October, 1682. 

INVENTORY. 

£ 
Clothes, linnen and woollen 33-15-0 

Anus and horse furniture 12- 8-0 

Beds with furuiture 41- 0-0 

7 doz" of napkins, 6^ 8' table cloths 3-^ Towells d' etc 10- 5-0 

Sheets 4G ^7^ chayres 3^ cushens 1^ 10^ 50-17-0 

carpetts 1* 5^* pillow beers 3^ stooles 16' tables 4*^ -7^ 9- 8-0 

Trunkes & chests 5^ 6" cuberd cloth 1^ 10» etc 7-12-0 

Dog-cobirons, brasse cobirons, tongs, flre-shovell, back for 
chimney, trammells, jacke, frying pan, spitts, bellows 
& other cobirons 10-16-0 

Basketts and hatchett 14% a long candlestick 14" 

a cup board 8" 1-16-0 

boxes and cases with bottles, 1^ 13^ 

looking glass with other small things 12' 2- 5-0 

box-irons S** warming pans 18^ earthen ware 18^ 2- 4-0 

yarne 1^ 5" 204 yds of linnen cloth 30* woolen cloth 2*: 14^ 33-19-0 

Spinning wheels & woole 1* 
brazen ware 4^ iron ware wooden ware 
books 3-^ 10^ 
The Dwelling house, orchard and out housing 160- 0-0 

A farm at Chebacco* 700- 0-0 

New England moneyes 392- 0-0 

Plate 20- 7-0 

* Now owned by Herman U. Story, at Argilla. 



THE MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 35 

His daughter Elizabeth married Rev. John Rogers, who 
became President of Harvard College. She inherited the 
homestead, and sold it to her son, Daniel Rogers, then 
teacher of the Grammar School, Jan. 18, 1708-9.* He 
graduated at Harvard College in 1686. He was Repre- 
sentative in 1716, and became a Justice of the Quarter 
Sessions and General Sessions Courts. He served the 
town as Town Clerk and Physician. Returning from 
Salisbury where he had been holding Court, he lost his 
way in a blinding snowstorm, Dec. 1, 1723, and strayed 
Out on the marshes, where he perished. His gravestone 
in the old burying ground recites the sorrowful story in 
a long and graphic Latin inscription. f His son, Daniel, 
minister of Littleton, sold the ancestral property April 6, 
1759 to Capt. Nathaniel Treadwell,| and it is to be noticed 
that the Denison mansion had disappeared at that time. 
The deed describes the property as an acre and a half of 
pasture land. It was inherited by Jacob Treadwell, son 
of Nathaniel, and his heirs sold it to Nathaniel Lord 3d, 
familiarly known as "Squire Lord," Aug. 10, 1815. § 

The heirs of Nathaniel Lord, Jr. sold it to John Per- 
kins, April 28, 1855,11 and when it came into his posses- 
sion, it remained of the exact size of the oris^inal Denison 
estate, except a triangular piece, fourteen feet on County 
street, and ninety feet on his line, which Jacob Treadwell 
had sold to John Dutch, March 9, 1779.11 Mr. Perkins 
built the house now owned by his heirs, and sold a piece 
abutting ori the Bamford property to James M. Welling- 
ton, Dec. 25, 1858.** Mr. Wellington moved a mill build- 
ing, erected by Mr. Hoyt near the dam of the upper mill 
on South Main street for veneer-sawing, and located it on 
this site, where it was occupied in part as a residence by 
Mr. Wellington and in part as a siioe factory. 

Mr. William H. Graves purchased the corner and erected 
his residence.! f -^ stitching shop, which stood near the 
dwelling, was removed to a lot near the Wellington build- 

* Essex Co. Deeds, book 31, leaf 103. f Felt's History of Ipswich, page 202. 

t Essex Co. Deeds, book 177, leaf 133. § Essex Co. Deeds, book 308, leaf 11. 

II Essex Co. Deeds, book 571, leaf 258. IT Essex Co. Deeds, book 147, leaf 242. 

** Essex Co. Deeds, book 583, leaf 169. ft Essex Co. Deeds, book 636, leaf 222. 



36 HOUSES AND LANDS NEAR THE MEETING HOUSE GREEN. 

ing a few years since, and converted into a dwelling now 
owned and occupied by George A. Schofield. 

The school-house was built in 1848, on the site of an 
ancient gambrel-roofed building, that had been used as a 
school for many years. 




^. s 






ANNUAL MEETING. 



The Annual Meeting of the Society was held on Dec. 2, 
1901, at the House of the Society. The following officers 
were elected for the year ensuing : 

President. — T. Frank Waters. 
Vice Presidents. — John B. Brown, 

John Heard. 
Clerk. — John W. Goodhue. 
Directors. — Charles A. Say ward, 

John H. Cogswell, 

Edward Kavanagh. 
Corresponding Secretary. — John H. Cogswell. 
Treasurer. — T. Frank Waters. 
Librarian. — John J. Sullivan. 

The following Committees were chosen : 

On Historical Tablets. 

Charles A. Say ward, 
John H. Cogswell, 
John B. Brown, 
T. Frank Waters. 

Social Committee. 

Ralph W. Burnham, 
Edward Kavanagh, 
Mrs. J. J. Sullivan, 
Miss S. C. Whipple, 
Miss Lucy S. Lord, 
Mrs. E. F. Brown, 
Mrs. John E. Tenney. 

On Membership. 

John W. Nourse, 
Chester P. Woodbury, 
Ralph W. Burnham, 
Mrs. Harriet E. Noyes, 
Mrs. Elizabeth M. Brown. 

The Reports of the Treasurer, Curator and President 
were read and ordered to be printed. 

(37) 



REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE IPSWICH 
HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



I take pleasure in reporting a year of gratifying pros- 
perity, though not of phenomenal growth. L'lst year a 
special exhibit of Textiles was opened in July and con- 
tinned nntil September. This was widely advertised and 
the nunil)er of visitors reached the highest figures thus far 
attained. The state of Miss Gray's health rendered it im- 
possible for her to attempt anything of this nature this 
summer. It was deemed desirable as well to test the in- 
terest of the public in the House and its contents, without 
any special endeavor to bring it conspicuously into notice. 
Accordingly the House was opened only during the reg- 
ular hours in the afternoon, and as Miss Gray felt unequal 
to the task of receiving visitors, Miss Alice M. Brown was 
engaged as care-taker and hostess. She performed her 
duties in excellent fashion, and we are sure that all visitors 
were received hospitably and entertained very intelligently 
during: the eleven weeks she remained in charo^e. 

The total number of visitors for the year ending Dec. 
1st, was 1008, considerably less than last year's record as 
would be supposed for the reasons just noted. Beside this, 
the summer season was not favorable. Tlie visitor's book 
at the Essex Institute, Salem, and the diminished business 
of the professional guides in that city, indicate a marked 
falling oft" in the average number of visitors, and this is 
explained by the attractions of the Pan-American Fair at 
Buffalo, which led many to take their vacations in that 
quarter. But a goodly number found our House, and we 
may well be satisfied. 

The Report of the Curator, wnth tabulation of visitors, 
is appended to this report. 

The most distinguished visitors of the year were the 

(38^ 



REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT. 39 

senior Senator from Massachusetts, Hon. George F. Hoar 
and wife, who spent several hours in town by invitation of 
the Society. They were greatly interested in the House 
and in the work of the Society, and enjoyed as well a ride 
about our town and a visit to the home and place of burial 
of Dr. Manasseh Cutler in Hamilton. Mr. Halliday of 
Boston, an expert authority in old houses, has repeated 
his visit and made interesting photographs. His opinion, 
given very enthusiastically, is that "there is nothing in the 
country that can touch it." Mrs. Alice Morse Earle, the 
fjimous writer on Colonial themes, and her sister, Miss 
Morse, spent several hours here, and a considerable num- 
ber of photographs of ancient pieces of furniture were car- 
ried away with them. 

Four numbers of Miss Esther Singleton's " Furniture of 
our Forefathers," have been published by Doubleday, 
Page & Co., of New York. In the third number of this 
series a full page was given to a photograph of our ancient 
Kitchen, with its unique furnishings, and another to the 
ancient mirror with inlaid olive-wood frame, presented by 
Mrs. Bomer. Drawings of chests, etc., in our possession, 
also found place, and eulogistic mention was made of the 
Kitchen as an architectural study. The New York Trib- 
une, in its Illustrated supplement of July 28, 1901, re- 
viewed the Singleton books, and honored us by selecting 
the picture of the Kitchen for full-size reproduction, the 
only illustration borrowed from the whole series. 

In September, Miss Alice A. Gray, the Curator of the 
House since it was opened to the public, resigned her office 
and removed her possessions. This was due chiefly to the 
impaired state of her health, and the loss of her efficient 
housekeeper and assistant, Miss Julia Gutberlett. We 
contemplated this event with dismay, for Miss Gray's col- 
lection of antique furniture, pictures and bric-a-brac, had 
made the parlor a very beautiful room, and her rare taste 
had been manifest in the arrangement of the whole house. 
Her wide acquaintance had brought many interesting vis- 
itors, and some munificent gifts, the most notable of which 
was the splendid contribution of $1800 from Mrs. W. C. 
Loring, for the purchase of the corner lot, which has added 
so much to the value and beauty of our grounds. Long 



40 REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT. 

and patient inquiry had foiled to reveal a suitable successor 
available for this important office, but at the very last mo- 
ment, by rare good fortune, we found that our former fellow 
townsman, Mr. Ralph W. Burnham, desired the position. 
Mr. and Mrs. Burnham took possession at once, and 
brought an unrivalled collection of beautiful ancient ma- 
hogany furniture, and a large and costly collection of old 
china. Entering enthusiasticalh' upon the work, they have 
re-arranged the upper rooms very tastefully, and with fine 
effect, and are prepared to receive visitors at any reason- 
able hour. A reception was given by the Society to Mr. 
and Mrs. Burnham on Wednesday, November 20th, and 
other social events are in prospect. By this means we 
hope to quicken the interest of our members, and draw in 
many who have not yet joined our Society. 

The Society has now about one hundred and eighty act- 
ive members. A considerable enlargement is very desir- 
able. Popular interest is enhanced by a large body of 
members scattered over the whole community, who re- 
ceive and distribute the publications and come with their 
friends to the House. The enlargement of revenue accru- 
ing from this source provides the funds that are needed 
greatly for extending the Avork we wish to accomplish on 
many lines. I suggest that a Committee on Membei'ship 
be elected, and that it shall be the duty of this Committee 
to make a special canvass for new members and report the 
names at intervals to the officers. 

Since the last annual meeting, the tenth number of our 
Historical Publications, entitled "The Hotel Cluny of a 
New England Village," has been distributed. The demand 
for our earlier publications has exhausted the editions, and 
no provision has been made for a reprint of the numbers, 
no longer in hand. Profiting by this experience, a nnich 
larger edition of the last issue was ordered, and the bulk 
of the expense was borne very generously by Mr. D. F. 
Appleton. 

The question of the early enlargement of the scope of 
our publications is one that is confronting us with increas- 
ing force. The great demand for genealogical material 
gives large and widely extended value to the vital statis- 
tics and other records of the town. The topography of 



REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT. 41 

the ancient town is of great interest. Biographical sketches 
of the famous men whose names adorn our annals, reprints 
of ancient publications, and pictures of buildings and lo- 
calities as they are to-day, all should be made. A quarterly 
or semi-amiual publication of unique value could be issued, 
and those, whose opinion is authoritative, are sure that it 
would soon come to self-support. 

The financial status of the Society is excellent. Though 
the receipts, $()49.04, have been smaller than usual, the 
completion of the House has enabled us to finish the year 
with a small balance in the treasury. All accounts inci- 
dent to House and grounds are now settled, and the orig- 
inal mortgage of $1600 is the only encumbrance on our 
property. The Society would be helped ver}' materially, 
if this could be removed, and some friends may eventually 
find the means. The interest, however, is not a heavy tax 
upon our resources, and certain building operations, the 
erection of a log-house, and the construction of a fac- 
siniile of an ancient "cage," seem to make more immediate 
demands upon our funds. The yet larger scheme of acquir- 
ing the adjoining land and ei'ecting a fire-proof memorial 
building for the use of the Society, must be kept constantly 
in mind. A broad-minded and generous descendant from 
old Ipswich stock may yet be found, who will count it a 
privilege to show his regard for the ancestral home by 
providing the requisite funds. 



REPORT OF CURATOR. 

TABULATION OF VISITORS, WITH COMPARISON OF YEARS 

1899-1900-1901. 



Alabama, 

California, - 

Colorado, 

Connect iciit, 

Dist. of Columbia, 

Florida, 

Georgia, 

Illinois, 

Indiana, 

Iowa, 

Kansas, 

Kentucky, - 

Louisiana, 

Maine , 

Maryland, 

Massachusetts, 

Michigan, 

Minnesota, 

Missouri, 

Montana, 

Nebraska, 

New Hampshire, 

New Jersey, - 

New York, 

North Carolina, 

North Dakota, 

Ohio, - 

Oregon, 

Pennsylvania, 

Rhode Island, 

South Dakota, 

Tennessee, 

(42) 



1899 


1900 


1901 





2 





4 


6 


2 


3 


1 


1 


9 


17 


3 


4 


6 


13 


2 


1 


1 


1 


1 


2 


12 


38 


32 





4 


2 


1 


1 


7 





3 








3 


4 


2 


3 


11 


12 


19 


13 


6 


4 


8 


918 


1200 


708 


9 


8 


4 


6 


16 


12 


5 


9 


6 





1 








i 


1 


21 


16 


10 


14 


24 


24 


42 


79 


70 





1 


2 








1 


5 


13 


7 








1 


38 


20 


38 


4 


4 


3 








1 





2 


6 



REPORT OF THE CURATOR. 43 

1899 1900 1901 



Texas, - 
Vermont, - 
Virginia, 
West Virginia, 
"Wisconsin, 
Wasliiugton, 



Canada, 

China, 

Cuba, 

England, 

Germany, 

Holland, 

Hawaii, 

Ireland, 

New Brunswick, 

Nova Scotia, 

Quebec, 

Scotland, - 

Spain, - 

Sweden, 



States represented, 
Counties represented. 

Yon will notice Massachusetts gained 282 in 1900 over 
1899, but lost 492 in 1901 due, no doubt, to the Pan 
American Exposition. Gain in States of 1900 over 1899, 
379. Loss in States in 1901 from 1900, 505. Also 
notice that the gain in States of 1900 is more marked in 
the inland States rather than the seaboard States, owing 
perhaps to the travel to the Paris Exposition, Boston be- 
ing the point of sailing, and the tourists upon their re- 
turn visiting points of interest here previous to returning 
West. 

Yours, 

Ralph Warren Burnham. 



2 


1 


1 


6 


1 


3 


5 


2 


10 





1 





3 


1 


1 





4 





1,134 


1,513 


1,008 


1899 


1900 


1901 





1 











1 


2 








5 


3 


1 





1 


1 
L 





1 





2 


3 


1 





1 





1 





1 


2 


1 











1 


1 








1 











2 





14 


13 


6 


1899 


1900 


1901 


24 


34 


32 


7 


8 


6 



REPORT OF THE TREASURER FOR THE YEAR 
ENDING DEC. 1, 1901. 

T. Frank Waters in account with Ipswich Hist. Societij. 

Dr. 

To fees, gifts, etc .$479 53 

House-fees, sale of pictures, etc., . . . 169 51 

Balance from 1900, 272 78 $921 82 

Cr. 

House account. 

Furniture, $56 66 

Care of grounds, 33 90 

Fuel, ."" 28 00 

Mrs. Taylor, work, 27 00 

Miss Alice M. Brown, care of house, . . 33 00 

Ralph W. Burnhara, Curator, .... 25 00 

Water bills, 8 95 

Miscellaneous, 11 80 224 31 

Interest, 70 00 

Insurance, 22 00 92 00 

Construction account, 335 97 

Total, house account, 652 28 

Printing account. 

Publications, 192 59 

Miscellaneous, 6 25 

Envelopes and pofstage, 13 29 

212 13 

Miscellaneous, 19 49 

Balance in hand, 37 92 57 41 

$921 82 

(44) 



DONATIONS TO THE IPSWICH HISTORICAL 

SOCIETY FOR THE YEAR ENDING 

DECEMBER 1, 1901. 



Daniel Fuller Appleton. Cox's "Suffolk, Topo- 
graphical Ecclesiastical and Natural History," pub. 
in 1700 (rebound). Monumental Inscriptions in 
the Parish of St. Matthew, in Ipswich, Eng., 1884. 
" Indian Battles," 1859. Pamphlet, " Defence of the 
Legislature of Mass.," 1804. "An Account of the 
Late Revolution in New Enghmd," 1689 (reprint). 
Catalogue of D. F. Appleton's Collection of Bibles 
and Prayer Books, 1899. Almanack, 1713, by Dan- 
iel Leeds ; printed by Will. Bradford, N. Y. Alman- 
ack, 1776, by Samuel Stearns ; printed by Isaiah 
Thomas, Worcester. Constitution of the State of 
Mass. Washington's Farewell Address. 

Mrs. a. p. Bachelder. File of old Almanacs. Dash 
churn. 

Bangor Public Library. Annual Report. 

J. Francis Patch LeBaron. Pamphlet, Register of 
the Society of the Sons of the Revolution of Florida. 
1899. 

Mrs. Caroline E. Bomer. Chair owned by her great- 
grandfather, Col. Daniel Warner, who was the grand- 
son of Elder Philemon Warner, who went from 
Ipswich to Gloucester in 1710. The chair was prob- 
ably owned by the Elder. A mirror, with olive- 
wood inlays, which belonged to the family of Rev. 
John White, of Gloucester, who married the daugh- 
ter of Rev. John Wise of Chebacco. An Answer 
to Rev. John Wise's Essay on Taxation. A warm- 
ing pan, owned by Col. Warner. Piece of em- 
broidered bed-curtain. Fragment of curtain of a 

(45) 



46 DONATIONS TO THE IPSWICH HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

bed iu which Gen. Washington slept in Newburyport. 
Pair of bellows, owned by Dr. Thomas Manning. 
Books, etc. 

Mrs. William G. Brown. Turned legged table. Chairs. 

Cambridge (England) Univ. Library Report, 1900. 

Thomas Carroll, Peabody. " Bands and Band Music 
of Salem." 

Anson L. Clarke. Sample of powder used in the 
Revolution by Ambrose E. Davis, and cartridge used 
in the Civil War. 

Benj. H. Conant, Wenham. Photographs of mile-stones, 
with an historical sketch of these stones. 

Chas. W. Darling, Utica, N. Y. " Account of Impor- 
tant Versions and Editions of the Bible." 

Doubleday, Page & Co., N.Y. Three volumes. "The 
Furniture of our Forefathers," by Miss Esther Single- 
ton. 

Old Eliot. Publications, 1901. 

Essex Institute, Salem, Mass. Historical Collections, 
quarterly numbers, 1901. 

Estate of Mrs. Mary Farley. A round tea-table. A 
skewer hook. 24 books. 

A. P. Foster, Waterbury, Vt. Flax. 

Estate of Hauriet P. Fowler, Danvers. " Particulars 
of the death and burial of Chas. W. Giddiugs." 
Marker of the grave of C. W. Giddiugs. Funeral 
wreath. 

CuRTiss C. Gardner, St. Louis, Mo. "Lion Gardiner 
and Descendants. 

Dr. E. S. Goodhue, Wailuku, Maui, Hawaiian Islands. 
"Beneath Hawaiian Palms." "The Anglo-American 
Magazine." 

Thomas D. Gould. Quadrant used by Capt. Daniel 
Gould. 

Miss Alice A. Gray. Book, " Abraham Howard of 
Marblehead." 

Hon. George F. Hoar, M. C. "Oration at the celebra- 
tion of the Centennial of the Northwest, at Marietta, 
Ohio, April 7, 1888. "Oration on occasion of 
placing a tablet to the memory of Rufus Putnam, 
upon his dwelling-house at Rutland, Sept. 17, 1898." 



DONATIONS TO THE IPSWICH HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 47 

George Hovey. An engraving by G. G. Smith, Salem, 
Mass. " Massacre of the American Prisoners of War 
at Dartmouth Prison, April 6, 1815." Tomahawk. 

Ipswich Annual Report. 

The Kimball Family News. Topeka, Kansas. 

Miss Susan Kimball. Lignum-vitse pestle. Ancient 
book. 

Frederick J. Kingsbury, Waterbury, Conn. Author 
of the following pamphlets : " John Winthrop Jr." 
'The Tendency of Men to live in Cities." "The Reign 
of Law." " A Sociological Retrospect." "The Devel- 
opment of an Organized Industry." "Relative Value 
of the three Factors that produce Wealth." 

Mrs. W. H. Kinsman. Pair of ancient slippers. 

Lynn Historical Society. Report 1901. 

Manchester Historical Society. Historic Quarterly, 
Mar. 1901. 

James F. Mann. Two chairs. 

Marblehead Historical Society. Report Abbott Pub- 
lic Library, 1900-01. 

Nantucket Historical Association. "Proceedings of 
seventh annual meeting." "Bulletin No. 1. Nan- 
tucket Lands and Land-owners." 

New England Historic and Genealogical Society. 
Register, 1900, 1901. 

Miss S. Sophia Nourse. Pocketbook with name "Will- 
iam Southwick His pocket-book," worked in cross- 
stitch . 

Miss Esther Parmenter, Rowley. A pair of blue satin 
slippers worn at the wedding of Eunice Harris Jewett 
of Rowley. A linen baby's-shirt with lace sleeves and 
edging, made by Eunice Harris Jewett for her son 
Harris Jewett. A black silk night-cap worn by Mary 
Harris Savage of Rowley while travelling by stage at 
night. Kid glove worn by Mrs. Mary Harris Savage 
about 1830, and black netted glove. Sampler, worked 
by Sarah B. Judkins of Rowley, in 1825, when nine 
years old. . . Her miniature, when three years 
old, is owned by the Society. Sampler, worked by 
Ann Ilsley when eleven years old. She was born 
Aug. 22, 1799, daughter of David and Anna Frazier 



48 DONATIONS TO THE IPSWICH HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

Ilsley of Newbuiyport. Embroidered pocketbook 
or letter case, owned by David Ilsley, born Au^. 5, 
1767. Colored lithograph: "The Mourning Piece" 
of Anna, wife of Daniel Ilsley, died Sept. 11, 1804, 
aged thirty-two years, daughter of John and Hepzibah 
Frazier. (The Family Bible with records is owned by 
the Society.) Knife, used by a member of the Ilsley 
family on a whaling cruise. 

Mrs. Mary Parsons, Lynnfield. Windsor chair. Foot- 
stove, foot-stool. 

Peabody Institute. 49th Annual Report. 

Rev. a. p. Putnam, D.D. Address: "Gen. Israel Put- 
nam and Bunker Hill." 

Redwood Library, Newport, R. I. Annual report. 

Moses A. Safford, Kittery, Me. Aut()gra|)h letter of 
Sir Wm. Pepperrell, dated Nov. 26, 1718. 

Chas. a. Sayward. Seven Old Farmer's Almanacs and 
a newspaper 1849. 

Mrs. Louisa J. Sherburn. Two pictures. 

Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War, 
whose graves are marked by the Mass. Society of the 
Sons of the Revolution. Donor unknown. 

Mrs. Ha.nnah Appleton Thayer. Fragment of an In- 
dia shawl, once owned and worn by Madam Hancock, 
wife of Gov. Hancock, and a skein of India sewing 
cotton, used by the daughters of Rev. Wm. Greeu- 
ough, of Newton, early in the nineteenth century. 

Topsfield Historical Society. Historical Collections, 
Vol. VI, 1901. 

University of State of New York. New York at Get- 
tysburg, 3 vols. Three volumes, "Report of the Ad- 
jutant General of the State of New York." " New 
York in the Spanish American War." 

Western Reserve Historical Society. Archaeological 
collections. 

Maynard Whittier. Pocket-book once owned by Dr. 
Bonier. Oak tree nail and pins, and wrought iron 
nail from Henry Wilson house. 

Frederic Willcomb. Calendars. Manuscript on death 
of Rev. Daniel Rogers. Epitaph for his tombstone. 
Leaflet, Washington coat of arms, and inscription 



DONATIONS TO THE IPSAVICH HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 49 

of Lawrence Washinijton's tomb. Leaflets, copy of 
papers composed hy Samuel Prince, of Hull and 
Sandwich, 1685. 

Wallace P. Willhtt, East Orange, X. J. Engraved 
portrait of Rev. John Murray, pastor of Presl)yterian 
Church, Newburyport, who died March 13, 1793. 

Joseph Willcomb. Pair of bellows. 



NAMES OF MEMBERS. 



Frederick J. Alley, 
Mrs. Mary G. Alley, 
Dr. Charles E. Ames, 
Daniel Fuller Appleton, 
Mrs. Susan A. R. Appleton, 
Francis R. Appleton, 
Mrs. Frances L. Appleton, 
James W. Appleton, 
Randolph M. Appleton, 
Mrs. Helen Appleton, 
Dr. G. Guy Bailey, 
Mrs. Grace F. Bailey, 
Mrs. Elizabeth H. Baker, 
Miss Katharine C. Baker, 
Charles W. Bamford, 
Miss Mary D. Bates, 
John A. Blake, 
John E. Blakemore, 
Mrs. Caroline E. Bomer, 
James W. Bond, 
Warren Boynton, 
Miss Annie Gertrude Brown, 
Charles W. Brown, 
Edward F. Brown, 
Mrs. Carrie K. Brown, 
Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, 
Mrs. Elizabeth M. Brown, 
Henry Brown, 
Miss Isabelle G. Brown, 
James W. Brown, 
John B. Brown, 
Mrs. Lucy T. Brown, 
Miss Alice G. Burnhara, 
Daniel S. Burnham, 
Frank T. Burnham, 
Ralph W. Burnham, 
Mrs. Nellie Mae Burnham, 
F"red F. Byron, 
Rev. Aufiustine Caldwell, 
Miss Florence F. Caldwell, 
Miss Lydia A. Caldwell, 
Miss Sarah P. Caldwell, 
Charles A. Campbell, 
Mi's. Lavinia Campbell, 

(50) 



Edward W. Choate, 
Philip E. Clark, 
E. Harry Clegg, 
Miss Lucy C. Coburn, 
John H. Cogswell, 
Theodore F. Cogswell, 
Miss Harriet D. Condon, 
Rev. Edward Constant, 
Miss Roxie C. Cowles, 
Charles S. Cummings, 
Arthur C. Damon, 
Mrs. Carrie Damon, 
Mrs. Cordelia Damon, 
Harry K. Damon, 
Mrs. Abby Dan forth, 
George G. Dexter, 
Miss C. Bertha Dobson, 
Joseph D. Dodge, 
Harry K. Dodge, 
Mrs. Edith S. Dole, 
Rev. John M. Donovan, 
Arthur W. Doav, 
Mrs. Charles G. Dyer, 
George Fall, 
Miss Emeline C. Farley, 
Miss Lucy R. Farley, 
Joseph K. Farley, 
Benjamin Fewkes, 
John S. Glover, 
Dr. E. S. Goodhue, 
Frank T. Goodhue, 
John W. Goodhue, 
John J. Gould, 
James Graffum, 
Ralph H. Grant, 
Mrs. Eliza H. Green, 
Mrs. Lois Hardy, 
Mrs. Kate L. Haskell, 
George H. W. Hayes, 
Mrs. Alice L. Heard, 
Miss Alice Heard, 
Jolin Heard, 
Miss Mary A. Hodgdon, 
Miss Ruth A. Hovey, 



NAMES OF MEMBERS. 



51 



Gerald L. Hoyt, 
Miss Lucy S. Jewett, 
John A. Johnson, 
Miss Ellen M. Jordan, 
Edward Kavanagh, 
Charles M. Kelly, 
Arthur S Kimball, 
Fred A. Kimball, 
Rev. John C Kimball, 
Aaron Kinsman, 
Miss Bethiah D. Kinsman, 
Miss Mary E. Kinsman, 
Mrs. Susan K. Kinsman, 
Curtis E. Lakeman, 
Mrs Frances C. Lakeman, 
G. Frank Langdon, 
Austin L. Lord, 
George A. Lord, 
Miss Lucy Slade Lord, 
Thomas H. Lord, 
Mrs. Lucretia S. Lord, 
Dr. George E. Mac Arthur, 
Mrs. Isabelle G. Mac Arthur, 
Rev. Frank J. Mc Connell, 
Mrs. Mary B. Main, 
James F. Msinn. 
John P. Marston, 
Everard H. Martin, 
Mrs. Marietta K. Martin, 
Miss Heloise Meyer, 
Miss Abby L. Newman, 
Mrs. Amanda Nichols, 
William J. Norwood, 
Mrs. Elizabeth B. Norwood, 
John W. Nourse, 
Charles H. Noyes, 
Mrs. Harriet E. Noyes, 
Mrs. Anna Osgood, 
Rev. Robert B. Parker, 
Rev. Reginald Pearce, 
Moritz B. Philipp, 
Auirustine H. Plouff, 
Fred. H. Plouff, 
James H. Proctor, 
James E. Richardson, 
Mrs. Lucy C. Roberts, 
Miss Anna W. Ross, 
Fred. G. Ross, 
Mrs. Mary F. Ross, 



Joseph Ross, 

Mrs. Joan Ross, 

Joseph F. Ross, 

Mrs. Helene Ross, 

Dr. William H. Russell, 

William S. Russell, 

Daniel Safford, 

Angus Savory, 

Charles A. Say ward, 

Mrs. Henrietta W. Sayward, 

George A. Schofleld, 

Dexter M. Smith, 

Edward A. Smith, 

Miss Elizabeth P. Smith, 

Mrs. Harriette A. Smith, 

Henry P. Smith, 

Rev. R. Cotton Smith, 

Mrs. Elizabeth K. Spaulding, 

Dr. Frank H. Stockwell, 

Mrs. Alice L. Story, 

Edward M. Sullivan, 

John J. Sullivan, 

Mrs. Elizabeth M. Sullivan, 

Arthur L. Sweetser, 

John E. Tenney, 

Mrs. Annie T. Tenney, 

Rev. William H. Thayer, 

Samuel H. Thurston. 

Miss Ellen R. Trask, 

Bayard Tuckerman, 

('harles S. Tuckerman, 

Francis H. Wade, 

Miss Martha E. Wade, 

Miss Nellie F. Wade, 

William F. Wade, 

Luther Wait, 

Miss Annie L. Warner, 

Mrs. Caroline L. Warner, 

Henry C. Warner, 

Rev. T. Frank Waters, 

Miss Susan C. Whipple, 

Fred G. Whittier, 

Mrs. Marianna Whittier, 

Miss Eva Adams Willcomb, 

Wallace P. Willett, 

Robert D. Winthrop, 

Chalmers Wood, 

Chester P. Woodbury. 



HONORARY JIEMBERS. 



John Albree, Jr., Swampscott, 
William Sumner Appleton, Bos- 
ton, 
Lamont G. Burnham, Boston, 
Eben Caldwell, Elizabeth, N. J., 



Luther Caldwell, Lynn, 

Mrs. Edward Cordis, Jamaica 

Plain, 
Charles W. Darling, Utica,N.Y., 
Elisha P. Dodge, Newburyport, 



,')L' 



llONOIvAKV >!K.Mni.i;s. 



Miss (\iri)liiu' K.-irU'y, Caiu- 

l)ri(lL;i', 
Kraiik (\ Karlcv, So. Manclios- 

tor, Comi., 
Miss Kiitlu'riiu' S. Farley, So. 

M iiurlu'st.er, Conn., 
Mrs. lOnnioo W. Felton. (.'ain- 

l)ri(lu;o, 
•li'sso Fowkos, No\vtt>n, 
UciiinaUl FosUm*, Moston, 
An^n-it.ns I'. Gardrn'r, Hamilton, 
Cliarlos li. GoodluH', Sprinij- 

(ioUl. 
Mrs. I'Mi/.alu'Mi K. Gray, 
Miss Fiiiilv Iv. lirav, Sauqnolt, 

N. Y, ■ 
.\ninir \V. Half, Wincliostor, 
Albort. Farley Hoard, L'd, Bos- 
ton, 
Oils Kimball, Uosttui, 
Mrs. Otis Kimball. Boston, 
Miss Sarah S. Kimball, S.alom, 
FredorirU .1. Kinjisbnry, Wator- 

bnry. (^)nn., 
Miss ("arolinc T. Leeds, Bo-<toii, 
Miss Katharine V. Lorini;, Bos- 
ton, 
Mrs. Susan M. Loriug, Boston, 



Mrs. Klizal)eth U. Lyman, Brook- 
line, 
Joslah H. Mann, Memphis, Tenn. 
Miss Adeline Manninjj, Boston, 
Henry S. Manninir, New York, 
Mrs. Mary W. Manninij;, New 

York. 
Georije L. von Meyer, Kome, 

Italy, 
Miss Fsther I'armeiiter, Revere, 
Mrs. Mary S. C. Feabody, 
Frederie H. Rinne, Los .Viisjelos, 

<\al.. 
IMehanl W. Saltonstall, Boston. 
Dciuson 11. Slade, Oenler llar- 

l)or, N. IL. 
.losepli Spiller, Boston, 
Miss I'llleii A. Stone, East Lcx- 

iiiiitun. 
Miss .\nn 11 Treadwell, .lamaica 

IMain. 
Harry \V. Tyler, Boston, 
Albert Wade, Alton, 111 , 
Mrs. George \V. Wales. Moston, 
tietM-jie Willeomb, Boston, 
Robert 0. Wiuthrop, Jr., Bos- 
ton. 



... PUBLICATIONS .. 



IPSWICH HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



I. The Oration by Rev. Washington Choate and the Poem by Rev. 

Edgar F. Davis, on the 200th Anniversary of the Resistance to 
the Andros Tax, 1887. Price 25 cents. 

II. The President's Address and other Proceedings at the Dedica- 

tion of their new room, Feb. 3, 1896 Price 10 cents. 

(" III. Unveiling of the Memorial Tablets at the South Common and 
( IV. Proceedings at the Annual Meeting, Dec. 7, 1896. Price 25 
cents. 

V. The Early Homes of the Puritans and Some Old Ipswich Houses, 

with Proceedings at the Annual Meeting, 1897. Price 50 cents. 
(Out of print.) 

VI. Exercises at the Dedication of the Ancient House with a History 

of the House, and Proceedings at the Annual Meeting, 1898. 
Out of print, but the History of the House is reprinted in Num- 
ber X. 

VII. A Sketch of the Life of John Winthrop the Younger, with 

portrait and valuable reproductions of ancient documents 
and autographs, by T. Frank Waters. Price f2.50. Postage 
13 cents. 

VIII. "The Development of our Town Government" and "Com- 

mon Lands and Commonage," with the Proceedings at the 
Annual Meeting, 1899. Price 25 cents. 

IX. A History of the Old Argilla Rond in Ipswich, Massachusetts, 

by T. Frank Waters. Price 25 cents. 

X. " The Hotel Cluny of a New England Village," by Sylvester Bax- 

ter, and the History of the Ancient House, with Proceedings 
at the Annual Meeting, 1900. Price 25 cents. 

XI. The Meeting House Green and a Study of Houses and Lands in 

that vicinity, with Proceeding.s at the Annual Meeting, Dec. 2, 
1901. Price, 25 cents. 



;^;/V^Vi»-'C.C 



PUBLICATIONS OF TEE IPSWICH 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

XII. 



THOMAS DUDLEY 



SIMON AND ANN BRADSTREET 



A STUDY OF HOUSE-LOTS TO DETERMINE THE LOCATION 
OF THEIR HOMES 



THE EXERCISES AT THE DEDICATION OF 
TABLETS, JULY 3I, 1902. 



Proceedings at the Annual Meeting 
Dec. 1, 1902. 



Salem pveset 

The Salem Press Co., Salbm, Mass. 

1903 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE IPSWICH 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

XII. 



THOMAS DUDLEY 



SIMON AND ANN BRADSTREET 



A STUDY OF HOUSE-LOTS TO DETERMINE THE LOCATION 
OF THEIR HOMES 



THE EXERCISES AT THE DEDICATION OF 
TABLETS, JULY 3I, 1902. 



Proceedings at the Annual Meeting 
Dec. 1, 1902. 



iSalem Ipteee: 

The Salem Press Co., Salem, Mass. 

1903 



DUDLEY AND BRADSTREET. 



It was a day of note in the annals of Ipswich when 
Thomas Dudley and his good wife, Dorothy, came to 
occupy the generous grant of nine acres, which the Town 
had made in recognition of his making his residence here. 
He was already in his sixtieth year. In his young man- 
hood he had been a soldier of Queen Elizabeth ; relin- 
quishing the service of arms, he became steward of the 
estate of the Earl of Lincoln, then on the verge of 
bankruptcy and, in ten years, by rare business tact, freed 
it entirely from debt. He was profoundly impressed with 
the new Puritanism and cast in his lot unreservedly with 
the movement. Under the persecutions of Laud, life in 
old England became intolerable to the Puritans, and in 
1630, Dudley embarked for the Xew World, accompanied 
by Simon Bradstreet, who had married his daughter Ann 
two years before. 

Dudley was made Deputy Governor and Winthrop, 
Governor of the new Colony before the ship sailed, and 
he held the office of Deputy Governor until 1634, when 
he was chosen Governor. He retired fi-om that office in 
May ,'1635, and came from Cambridge to take up his abode 
in Ipswich. Daniel Denison had married his daughter, 
Patience, and came with him probably, as the Town as- 
signed him land in the same year. Bradstreet delayed his 
coming, but in a year or two he had established his home. 
Dudley and Bradstreet were near neighbors, and a rare 
neighborhood indeed, it soon became. The political promi- 
nence of Dudley must have made his house a centre of 
influence. He became Deputy Governor again in 1637, 
and retained the office until 1640, when he became Gov- 
ernor. He was elected for a third term in 1645, and was 
Deputy Governor from 1646 to 1650, when he was 



4 DUDLEY AND BKADSTREET. 

elected for his fourth term, and continued as Deputy until 
1G53. This astute politician, bold-spoken and irascible 
in manner, well-furnished with wealth, a lover of books, 
and possessed of a library of unusual size, was a notable 
addition to the Ipswich settlement. 

But the Bradstreet home was the centre of attraction 
above all others. Bradstreet himself was a man of 
singularly winning character, and an official constantly in 
the service of the Colony. His wife, Ann, while dwell- 
ing here, wrote the larger part of the poetry, Avhich was 
hailed with rapture as the song of " The Tenth Muse." 
Nathaniel Ward, the famous minister of the Ipswich 
church, was a devoted friend and an admirer of her verse. 
John Norton, the scholarly teacher of the Ipswich church 
until he was summoned to his ministry in Boston, gave 
unstinted praise. Nathaniel Rogers and his son John, 
President of Harvard College for a few months before his 
death, were warm friends. Denison would have resorted 
naturally to the home of his sister-in-laAV ; Winthrop and 
Symonds, as well, to the home of their fellow-magistrate. 
The best and most intelligent life of the Colony illumined 
that home. 

Dudley remained in Ipswich about four years, it is 
commonly thought, and then removed to Roxbury. 
Bradstreet tarried longer. The frequent mention of his 
name in the Town Records makes it possible that he was 
here until about 1644. He was resident in Andover in 
1647. 



A STUDY OF THE ORIGINAL HOUSE LOTS 
ON HIGH STREET, 

WITH A VIEW TO THE EXACT LOCATION OF GOV. THOMAS 
DUDLEY AND SIMON BRAD8TREET. 



1634. 

" Att a meeting houlden in November [ ] was con- 
sented and agreed unto the length [ ] of Ipswitch 
should extend westward unto [ ] burjinge place and 
Eastward unto a Cove of the River unto the plantinge 
ground of John Pirkeings the Elder." 

Thus the Town Record begins, and it defines the limit 
of the ancient settlement, from the old burying-place on 
the hill slope to the cove on East street, w^here the high- 
way borders on the tide-water. The warm southern slope 
of Town Hill was a favorite location, and the whole length 
of it between these bounds was allotted to the earliest 
settlers. 

The Town Record further informs us : 

"Their was Given and Granted to Thomas Dudley, 
Esq., in October, 1635, one parcell of ground contain- 
ing about nine acres, lyeinge betweene Goodman Cross 
on the West, and a lott intended to Mr. Broadstreet on 
the East, upon parcell of well nine acres, Mr. Dudley 
hath built an house." 

Goodman Cross is thus shown to be the western 
abutter of Dudley, and as subsequent deeds make it cer- 
tain that only one house lot intervened between the 
burying place and the Dudley lot, we locate Cross with 
confidence on the lot adjoining the ancient cemetery on 
High street. The deed of Richard Hubbard to Symon 

(6) 



6 ORIGINAL HOUSE LOTS ON HIGH STREET. 

Stacy,^ July 5, 1671, locates Richard Kimball, Sen., here, 
though no record of his purchase remains. Simon Adams, 
son-in-law of Kimball, received the estate and sold it, 
bounded by the burying-place on the northwest, specifying 
that it was "formerly old father Kimball's" and that there 
Avere a house and barn on the lot, to Shoreborne Wilson, 
June 6,1698.2 Adams had sold a part of the land pre- 
viously to the Town, as the Town Record contains the 
item. May 5, 1698, "Voted that £15 be allowed to Symon 
Adams for about half an acre of land to add to ye bury- 
ing-place as the selectmen shall agree to stake it out." 

During Wilson's ownership, the Town enlarged the 
burying-place again by buying "a quarter and half a 
quarter of an acre," April 3, 1707. He sold the re- 
mainder, which still contained about three acres, with the 
house he then occupied, to Daniel Rogers, the school- 
master, "in the Long street, so called," July 18, 1709.^ 
Rogers was the son of Rev. John Rogers, and grandson 
of General I Denison. He attained a conspicuous place 
as judge, town clerk and physician. His tragic death 
in a snowstorm on the Salisbury marshes lends pathos 
to his name.^ As Mr. Rogers bought the Denison home- 
stead in January, 1708-9, it is doubtful if he occupied 
the High street property, which he sold, in 1715 (Sept. 
15)^, to Stephen Perkins, mariner. 

The executors of Captain Perkins sold the property, 
which included about two acres, as the deed specifies, 
though no record of sale is found, to Edward Eveleth, a 
prominent citizen, Feb. 13, 1734, ^ who sold it the next 
year to Nathaniel CaldwelF (Dec. 3, 1735). John Cald- 
well, son of Nathaniel, inherited his real estate. s 
Thomas Cross was the next owner, though the deed of 
purchase is not recorded. He sold to James Foster, 
Nov. 10, 1741.9 This deed gives the north bound, "ex- 

1 Ipswich Records Deeds, book 3, leaf 253. 

"^ Essex County Deeds, book 12, leaf 89. 

' Essex County Deeds, book 21, leaf 103. 

* See Publications Ipswich mstorical Society No. xi, page 35. 

5 Essex County Deeds, book 27, leaf 205. 

" Essex Co. Deeds, book 70, leaf 143. 

T Essex Co. Deeds, book 70, leaf 243. 

8 Essex Co. Probate Records, book 322, leaf 365 (1738). 

» Essex Co. Deeds, book 82, leaf 247. 



ORIGINAL HOUSE LOTS ON HIGH STREET. 7 

tending one rod from the backside of the house towards 
the Town Hill, on land lately deeded to the Parrish for a 
burying-place." This was the third encroachment of the 
burying-ground, and nothing remained of the goodly 
original lot but the narrow strip separating the cemetery 
from the street. Mr. Foster lived in the house until his 
death, and his heirs, William Caldwell, Nathan Foster 
and Nathaniel Foster of Salem, sold the estate to Isaac 
Martin^ of Gloucester. Martin sold to John Lawson 
the quarter acre lot with house and well, Nov. 15, 1769,2 
who sold in turn to Samuel Lord, 3d, Gentleman, 3 Oct. 
1, 1772. 

Small as the lot was, it was yet further divided. Eight 
years after he bought it, Mr. Lord sold about eight square 
rods with half the house bounded by the burying-ground 
on the west, measuring forty-eight feet on the street, to 
Jonathan and William Galloway, Dec. 25, 1780.^ The 
dividing line on the east passed through the house and 
the middle of the chimney. The Galloway heirs, Martha 
Coburn, Eliza Williams, Mary Widdecomb and Harriet 
Galloway, singlewoman, of Washington, D. C, sold their 
interest in this property to Andrew Russell, cabinet 
maker, April 20, 1847.^ He lived on the other side of 
the street and had his shop for cabinet making on this 
spot. The old Galloway house is remembered in a 
ruinous state by the old people on High street. 

Andrew Russell sold to Francis and Lisette Ross, 
July 17, 1867,6 who transferred it to Timothy B. Ross, 
the present owner, March 13, 1879.''' The cabinet shop 
was remodelled into a house, and is the present resi- 
dence of Mr. Ross. The remainder of the house, known 
as the Galloway house, was sold by Samuel Lord, jr., to 
Policy Clioate, seamstress, June 5, 1790.^ She sold to 
Nath. Tread well. The deed is not recorded, but in 
Treadwell's deed to Elisha Gould, ^ Dec. 28, 1811, refer- 
ence is made to the deed of "Dollv" Choate given April 
25, 1803. Elisha Gould sold to Timothy Ross, jr., Oct. 
11, 1814.10 

1 Essex Co. Deeds, book 110, leaf 21. « Essex Co. Deeds, book 744, leaf 254. 

» Essex Co. Deeds, book 127, leaf 11. ' Essex Co. Deeds, book 1014, leaf 54. 

3 Essex Co. Deeds, book 122, leaf 209. » Essex Co. Deeds, book 168, leaf 25. 

* Essex Co. Deeds, book 138, leaf 278. » Essex Co. Deeds, book 208, leaf 39. 

5 Essex Co. Deeds, book 399, leaf 54. " Essex Co. Deeds, book 207, leaf 51. 



8 ORIGINAL HOUSE LOTS ON HIGH STREET. 

When Samuel Lord, 3d, bought, the eastern bound was 
the Lummus propert}^ but when Samuel Lord, jr., 
sold to Polley Choate, it was bounded by Robert Stone's 
land. This was undoubtedly part of the original estate, 
as in Stone's deed to William Bobbins, Nov. 3, 1807,^ of 
land and house, it was bounded by the burying ground on 
the north, Lummus on the east, and three rods and four 
feet on the street. Captain Robbins sold to Timothy 
Harris of Rowley, July 8, 1812. ^ Timothy and Daniel 
Harris of Rowley sold to Daniel Caldwell, April 16, 
18283 who sold to William W. Rust, jr., blacksmith, on 
Dec. 13, 1851.^ Caldwell's deed mentions that the 
property he sold was that which he bought of Timothy 
and Daniel Harris, and also a portion, which he bought 
of John Lord 3d, June 13, 1839. The latter deed Avas 
not recorded. The heirs of Rust own and occupy this 
estate. The house is first mentioned in Stone's deed, 
1807. 

THE GOV. DUDLEY LOT. 

The second of the original lots is that which has already 
been referred to, as identical with that " given and granted 
to Thomas Dudley Esq. in October, 1635," "one parcell 
of ground containing about nine acres lyeing between 
Goodman Cross on the West and a lott intended to Mr. 
Broadstreet on the East. Upon parcell of wch. nine acres, 
Mr. Dudley hath built an house," with other lands, "all 
which premises aforesayd, with the house built thereon 
and the palinge sett up thereon, the sayd Thos Dudley 
Esq. hath sold to Mr. Hubbard and his heirs &tc."^ 
Thos. Dudley is the redoubtable Governor Dudley, who 
removed his residence from Cambridge at this time, and 
removed to Roxbury in 1639.^ 

"Mr." Hubbard is undoubtedly Mr. William Hubbard, 
a prominent character in our early town history, feoffee. 
Deputy to General Court, and Justice of the Quarterly 
Court. He removed to Boston about 1662. He died in 
1670, leaving three sons, William, the Pastor of the 

1 Essex Co. Deeds, book 182, leaf 292. " Essex Co. Deeds, book 466, leaf 43. 

» Essex Co. Deeds, book 199, leaf 29. b Town Records. 

3 Essex Co. Deeds, book 252, leaf 65. « Felt, History of Ipswich, p. 72. 



ORIGINAL HOUSE LOTS ON HIGH STREET. 9 

Ipswich church and Historian of the Indian wars, Richard 
and Nathaniel. Johnson's tribute to him was, "a learned 
man, being well read in State matters, of a very afiable 
and humble behaviour, who hath expended much of his 
estate to helpe on thisAVorke. Althohe be slow in speech, 
yet is hee downright for the businesse.''^ His son, Richard, 
sold Symon Stacy the dwelling, and nine acres of land, 
bounded by High street on the southwest, by Richard 
Kemball's land on the northwest, and Robert Collins on 
the southeast, July 5, 1671.2 This house-lot was the 
largest ever granted by the town, and its size alone would 
identify it with the Dudley lot. 

The administrators of Captain Stacy, William Baker 
and John Staniford, sold the homestead, bounded west by 
"Shoarborn" Wilson and east by Sergeant Robert Lord, 
to Jonathan Lummus, sen., June 18, 1712.3 Lummus 
bequeathed his lands to his son Jonathan by his will, 
approved Aug. 17, 1728. ^ He bequeathed his son Daniel, 
"a small piece of land out of my homestead adjoining 
to his homestead, to make him a convenient way to his 
barn, and so to extend from the northerly end of his 
homestead, until it come to the cross fence as it now 
stands," and "the residue of the real estate, save a part 
of the house reserved for Margaret his daughter, to his 
son Jonathan." Approved, Sept. 25, 1769. ^ Jonathan, the 
third successive owner bearing this name, bequeathed the 
ancestral property, to his nephews, Isaac and Daniel 
(will approved, June 7, 1791).*^ 

Isaac quitclaimed to Daniel his interest in the western 
half of the estate, with half of the house, April 9, 1799,"' 
and a piece of land at the west corner of the homestead, 
beginning at an elmtree by the road, 3 rods, 13 feet north 
to the barn, 6 rods 14 feet west to the burying ground. 
Daniel was the son of Daniel mentioned in the Avill of 
the first Jonathan as his son. His father had already sold 

1 Felt, History of Ipswich, p. 75. 
' Ipswicli Deeds, book 3, leaf 253. 
3 Essex Co. Deeds, book 24, leaf 236. 

• Essex Co. Probate Records, book 316, leaves 378-80. 

• Essex Co. Probate Records, book 345, leaves 529-531. 

• Essex Co. Probate Records, book 360, leaf 476. 
' Essex Co. Deeds, book 217, leaf 19. 



10 ORIGINAL HOUSE LOTS ON HIGH STREET. 

him one-half of his house and barn with a half acre of 
land, April 4, 1770.i 

The Committee appointed to divide the estate of Daniel 
Lummus, son of the first Daniel, assigned to the widow, 
Anna, the eastern half of the Daniel Lummus homestead, 
bounded by land of Samuel Baker ; to his son Daniel, the 
other half of the homestead, and to his daughter Anna, 
wife of John Hodgkins, jr., the eastern half of the house 
now known as the Low house, May 4, 1813;^ at his 
mother's death, Daniel received her half of the house, and 
at his death (about 1843) his sister, Mrs. Anna Hodgkins, 
inherited it. She bequeathed it to her daughter, Mary, 
wife of George Willett. She left it to her children, 
George A. and Mary E. Willett, wife of George Tozer. 

George Willett had sold a strip of land on the southeast 
corner, thirty-four by sixty-four feet, to Sophia A. Tyler, 
wife of James S. Tyler, June 2, 1873.3 Mr. Tyler re- 
moved the house that stood on the site of Mr. John A. 
Johnson's present residence, and placed it on this lot. 
The homestead is owned still by George A. Willett and 
William H. Tozer. The house is probably the original, 
built by Daniel Lummus before 17(39. 

Isaac Lummus bequeathed the western half of the old 
Jonathan Lummus homestead to his nephews John and 
Abrahan, sons of Wm. Lummus (approved 1849).'* 
Abram Lummus, son of Abraham, and other heirs sold 
to John C. Low, May 12, 1882, and it is described as 
still containing eight acres more or less.^ It was sold by 
him to John B. Brown, and by Mr. Brown to Chester W. 
Bamford. The house has lately been remodelled. It 
was built in all probability during the Lummus owner- 
ship. The small piece adjoining the Wallis Rust land was 
sold by Capt. John Hodgkins to his son John, and sold 
by Caroline E. Hodgkins to Olive R. Ross, Nov. 5, 1869.6 

I am aware that some transfers of minor importance 
have been stated in a general Avay. My purpose is, not 

1 Essex Co. Deeds, book 126, leaf 16. 

' Essex Co. Probate Records, book 383, leaf 622. 

3 Essex Co. Deeds, book 886, leaf 62. 

* Essex Co. Probate Records, book 415, leaf 16. 

' Essex Co. Probate Records, book 1113, leaf 99. 

« Essex Co. Deeds, book 451, leaf 204; book 819, leaf 211. 



ORIGINAL HOUSE LOTS ON HIGH STREET. 11 

to establish the legal title of present owners, but to show 
that the original Lummiis estate had a frontage on High 
street from the Wallis Rust property to the Samuel Baker 
estate, and that this is the identical nine acre grant to 
Governor Thomas Dudley. 

KOLFE COLLING S. 

The next grant was in possession of . . . Rofe or Rolfei 
in 1652 and Robert Collings, in 1054.2 Abraham Per- 
kins sold to Robert Lord, sen. ''my dwelling house, 
barn etc and three and three quarters acres of land, which 
I lately purchased of Robert CoUins of Haverhill," 
bounded by Simon Stacy on the west and John Caldwell 
on the east, April 11, 1682.3 The will of Robert Lord, 
sen., probated in 1683, bequeathed "to my youngest son, 
Nathaniel, my dwelling, barn, land w*'^ the close I pur- 
chased of Thos. Lull which lieth on the other side of ye 
street . . . whereas I am out £40 for ye house I bought 
of Abraham Perkins, my will is that my grandchild, 
Robert Lord, Tertius, paying of y^ £40 to me or my heirs, 
shall have said house, in which sd Robert now dwells. 4" 

Robert Lord, blacksmith, left his estate to his son 
Samuel and his six daughters, by his will approved in 
1735.5 Samuel Lord, sen., blacksmith, left certain lands 
to his only son Samuel, and mentions that the rest of his 
real estate was entailed by his father. His will was ap- 
proved in 1755.^ In 1765, the estate was finally divided.'' 
The w-idow received her dower, which I do not find re- 
corded. The remaining two-thirds of the dwelling and 
so much of the land adjoining " to begin at the corner by 
Daniel Caldwell's land so running northwest by sd road 
57 feet to a stake, thence across the middle of the well 
up the Hill ward 65 feet to a stake, thence on a square 65 
feet to a stake, thence on a square 55 feet to Daniel 
Caldwell's land," and a two acre piece above the widow's 

1 Caldwell Records. 

s Ipswich Deeds, book 2, page 128. 

s Essex Co. Deeds, book 15, leaf ll.i. 

* Essex Co. Probate Records, book 304, leaves 16, 18. 

6 Essex Co. Probate Records, book 320, leaves 177-178. 

8 Essex Co. Probate Records, book 333, leaves 217, 352. 

' Essex Co. Probate Records, book 343, leaf 499. 



12 ORIGINAL HOUSE LOTS ON HIGH STREET. 

thirds, was assigned to the daughter Mary Lord. About 
136 poles in the homestead, between the part assigned to 
Mary Lord and the Lunmius property, was assigned to 
Samuel Lord. Martha and Abigail received other por- 
tio;is of the estate. 

Samuel Lord, the fourth, and others, legal heirs of 
Sanmel Lord, blacksmith, sold to Samuel Baker, felt- 
maker, their father's homestead, with 5 rods 4 feet 
frontage, extending from the Lunmius land to the well, 
Jan. 14, 1775.^ Samuel Baker left the southeast half to 
the children of his son John Baker, the other half after his 
widow's decease to his daughters Elizabeth and Mary. 2 

Mary Lord sold to her brother-in-law, Elijah Boynton, 
husband of Martha, her share with all the upper part of 
the dwelling, Dec. 7, 1772-3 Elijah Boynton sold the 
same to Dr. John Manning, Aug. 14, 1782."* Samuel 
Lord, 3d, and Mary sold Sanmel Lord, 4th, al)out six rods 
and half a house, "beginning at the highway opposite 
the middle of the chimney of the house, on a line through 
the middle of the chimney," etc. , April 23, 1784.^ Samuel 
Lord, "4th, conve3^ed the same to John Manning, Jan. 8, 
1787*"' and Dr. Manning thus became sole owner. He 
sold to Thomas Dodge, jr., Oct. 3, 1796 ;''' Dodge, then of 
London deny, to John Cooper of Newbury port, Feb. 13, 
1815 ;« Cooper to Elizabeth JeAvett, wife of Mark R. 
Jewett, March 8, 1828 ;« the Jewetts to William Russell, 
June 5, 1833.1" Lewis Titcomb and Sarah sold to Martha 
S. Russell, a small piece on the corner of the lot, where a 
felt-maker or hatter's shop stood, June 9, 1851. ^^ 

Martha S. Russell sold to Daniel S. Russell, May 17, 
1866.12 He reconveyed it to Martha S. Russell, Nov. 13, 



» Essex Co. Deeds, book 1-10, leaf 40. 

* Essex Co. Probate Records, book 392, leaf 1. 
'Essex Co. Deeds, book 131, leaf 118. 

* Essex Co. Deeds, book UO, leaf 23. 
» Essex Co. Deeds, book 1,37, leaf 212. 
« Essex Co. Deeds, book 146, leaf 200. 
' Essex Co. Deeds, book 161, leaf 69. 

8 Essex Co. Deeds, book 206, leaf 177. 

Essex Co. Deeds, book 269, leaf 74. 
i» Essex Co. Deeds, book 307, leaf 256. 
" Essex Co. Deeds, book 486, leaf 20. 
" Essex Co. Deeds, book 704, leaf 300. 



ORIGINAL HOUSE LOTS ON HIGH STREET. 13 

1872,1 and she .sold it on the same date to Carlton Copp.' 
He sold to Mary A. Rutherford, the present owner, Oct. 
(), 1894.2 The house now stands end to the street, but 
the deed of Samuel Lord, 4th, to Doctor Manning in 1784 
specihes aline of division, which shows that the old Samuel 
Lord house stood with its front to the street. It seems 
probable therefore that the house now standing was built 
since that date. 

BRAD8TREET CALDWELL. 

It Avas specified in the record of Dudley's grant and 
sale, that his land lay between Goodman Cross's and "a 
lot intended for Mr. Broadstreet." 

The earliest owners of this adjoining lot, however, who 
are known to us, are a Rofe or Kolfe, who occupied " or 
owned in 1652 and Robert Collins, who was in posses- 
sion in 1654. Bradstreet may have owned this lot and 
the adjoining one, or, it may be, he never owned the im- 
mediatel}^ adjoining lot, but settled on the one next be- 
yond, which came into the possession of the Caldwell 
family at a very early period. 

The one conclusive link of evidence that connects 
Bradstreet's name with this lot, is the record of Edward 
Brown's house-lot, of one acre, that it was bounded south 
east by the lot granted to William Bartholomew and 
northwest by the house-lot now in possession of Mr. 
Simon Bradstreet (1639).^ It may have been granted 
originally to John Jackson, as his lot was "on the side of 
the hill next to Edward Brown's at six rod's broad" 
(1637). 

In connection with this record of Edward Brown's 
house-lot the deed of Richard Betts, published in the 
Caldwell Records, is of conclusive weight. 

"This present wrighting wittnesseth that Richard Betts 
of Ipswich and Joana his wife, of Ipswich in the County 
of Essex for and yn consideration of thirty pounds by 
bill and otherwise in hand payd before the sealeing 

1 Essex Co. Deeds, book 869, leaf 52. 

2 Essex Co. Deeds, book 1424, leaf 482. 
s Town Records. 



14 ORIGINAL HOUSE LOTS ON HIGH STREET. 

heereof Have Granted Bargayned, & Sould and bye these 
presents doe fully Grant, Bargayne and Sell vnto Cor- 
nelius Waldo of the same Town and County, Marchant, 
all that his dwelling-house situate and being in Ipswich, 
aforesayd, with all the yards, fences and lands about it, 
haveing the house and land of Edward Browne toward 
the southeast, the house and land late .... Rofes 
(Daniel Rolfe?) toward the norwest, abutting on the 
street toward the southwest, and on the land of Thomas 
Lovell, toward the Noreast, etc. etc., 

this 14th of September, 1652" 

Cornelius Waldo sold to John Caldwell for £26 "the 
house I bought of Richard Betts the land of Edward 
Brown southeast, the street southwest, house and land of 
Robert Collings, northwest." Aug. 31, 1654.^ 

Thus it appears that Bradstreet was bounded southeast 
by Edward Brown in 1639, and that Betts, Waldo and 
Caldwell, were bounded by the same in 1652 and 1654, 
and that the Bradstreet lot is identical with the Caldwell. 

It is generally believed that Mr. Bradstreet removed to 
Andover in 1644. He was certainl}^ resident there in 
1647 as the deed of William Symons to Simon Bradstreet 
of Andover, makes evident. ^ 

John Caldw^ell's will was proved Sept. 28, 1692.3 It 
gave his wife Sarah the use and improvement of all the 
estate during her widowhood, with the privilege of dis- 
posing of it or any part of it for her necessity, and if she 
married again, she should have her third part. After her 
decease, his son John w^as to have a double part, i. e. two 
parts out of eight, with the dwelling house if he desired 
it, paying to his brothers and sisters what belonged to 
them. 

The widow made her will, as follows : 

"having for many years past had supply of her son 
Dillingham Caldwell, for ye supply of her necessities, & 
dureing her naturall life not knowing how or where to be 
better supplied and taken care of, he and his wife being 
att all times ready to supply his necessities." As he had 
advanced her £100 she deeded him the dwelling, barn, etc. 

» Ipswich Deeds, book 2, leaf 128. 

2 Essex Co. Deeds, book 1, leaf 35. 

3 Essex Co. Probate Records, book 303, leaves 84-85; Inventory, leaf 164. 



ORIGINAL HOUSE LOTS ON HIGH STREET. 15 

"with all the said homestead containing one acre more 
or less, bounded by Street on one end, the other end by 
land of Lovels, formerly ye one side bounded by land of 
Robert Lord, ye other side by land formerly Joseph 
Brown's except during sd Sarah's natural life, yt the use 
and Improvement of yt end of ye dwelling house wdierein 
she keeps and lodges" (19 January 1709). John Cald- 
well quitclaimed to Dillingham. The widow died Jan. 
26, 1721-2, aged 87- 

Dillingham Caldwell was a weaver by trade, and a man 
of influence and wealth. He died May 3, 1745, aged 
79 years. His will, dated Dec. 21, 1742, ^ left his widow 
the improvement of the easterly end of the dwelling, and 
provided for her maintenance very quaintly : 

"also I give unto my wife yearly and every yesir she 
shall remain my widow, ten bushells of Indian corn, two 
bushells of Rie, tAvo bushels of Malt, one hundred pounds 
of pork, eighty pounds of beef, one barrel of cyder, a 
milch coAv that shall be kept for her use, winter and sum- 
mer, and the calf such cow may bring, and four ewes 
kept for her use, summer and winter, and ye lambs such 
ews may bring, and six pounds of Flax Year, and so 
many apples as she shall want for her own use, and suf- 
ficient firewood for her use, brought to her door, cut and 
carried into her room, where we now dwell. Also two 
gallons of oyl." 

The estate, real and personal, not otherwise bestowed, 
was given to his son Daniel. He died childless and the 
house and land became the property of John, his only 
brother, and his heirs, Daniel, John and Elizabeth, wife 
of Capt. John Grow. 

John Caldwell, jun.,soldto his son Daniel Caldwell, 
jun., mariner, the northwest end of the house, and an 
undivided half of the land, Oct. 31, 1797. ^ He was lost, 
probably on Ipswich bar, in November, 1804, at the age 
of 34 years, leaving two minor children, Daniel, six years 
old, and David H., 17 mos., who inherited his estate. ^ 
Daniel died when about twenty years old, and David H. 

1 Essex County Probate Records, book 326, leaves 290-2. 

2 Essex Co. Deeds, book 164, leaf 233. 

3 Probate Records, book 376, leaf 117; book 373, leaf 421. 



16 ORIGINAL HOUSE LOTS ON HIGH STREET. 

inherited his half. David sold or transferred his in- 
terest to Daniel Smith, who died insane, but bought it 
back again, and hi« widow, Emmeline, sold it to Charlotte 
M. Jones, wife of William Jones, and daughter of Eliza- 
beth (Caldwell) Grow, the daughter of John, Feb. 4, 
1868.1 

John Caldwell occupied the eastern end of the house 
until his death, and his unmarried daughters, Lucy and 
Mary, made it their home until their death. Mary died 
Jan. 26, 1861, aged 84, and Lucy died in April, 1868, 
aged 85. Their niece, Eliza, daughter of Elizabeth 
Caldwell and Capt. John Grow, lived with them and re- 
ceived this part of the house at their death. She married 
Charles Dodge, and her interest in the house fell to her 
daughter, Harriet Lord Rogers Dodge. 

The age of the venerable mansion is uncertain. It can- 
not be assumed with any confidence that it is the original 
Bradstreet home. Unless there is positive reason for 
believing it to be of such great antiquity, the probabilities 
of the case point to a lesser age. A significant item in 
its history is that Richard Betts sold for £30 in 1652, 
and John*^ Caldwell bought of Waldo for £26 in 1654. 
His will was proved Sept. 28, 1692, and the inventory of 
the estate included 

House and lands at home and three acres of land £109-0-0 

Oxen, cows, horses, sheep and swine 40-0-0 

Implements of husbandry, carts, plows 48-0-0 

Bedsteads, bedding linen 19-8-0 

The three " acres of land "' are identical probably with 
"foure acres be it more or less, within the Common fields, 
neare unto Muddy River," which he bought of William 
Buckley and Sarah, his wife, Aug. 31, 1657 for £7, and 
which Buckley bought of Thomas Manning.^ The home- 
stead was valued then at about £100, and for this sum the 
widow sold it to her son Dillingham. There is nothing 
to indicate any especial depreciation of the currency in 
the valuations of stock, tools, etc. in the inventory and 
the only way to explain the enhancement of value from 

1 Essex Co. Deeds, book 759, leaf 136. - Caldwell Records, p. 6. 



ORIGINAL HOUSE LOTS ON HIGH STREET. 1^ 

£26 in 1654 to £100 a half century afterward is to as- 
sume that John Caldwell replaced the house he bought, 
the house owned and occupied by the Bradstreets, with a 
new one of far greater value. But there seems no room 
for doubt that the Bradstreet home was on or near this 
spot, and the tablet has been located with confidence. 

THE EDWARD BROWN LOT. 

The Edward Brown lot of one acre, southeast from 
Bradstreet, has already been mentioned. He had a son 
John, who resided in Wapping, England, in 1683, when 
he sold land in the conmion fields left by his father 
Edward.^ The widow Sarah Caldwell's deed to Dilling- 
ham gives the eastern bound "land formerly Joseph 
Brown's." From the Probate Records, we learn that 
Joseph Brown died before 1694, and that his estate was 
divided to his sons, John and Benjamin, ^ in 1721. 

John Brown, Turner, granted in his Avill, proved in 
1758, to Elizabeth, his wife, ''all the household goods 
she brought to me, and all the linnen shee hath made since 
I married her to be at her Disposal," to his son John, the 
improvement of the two lower rooms and the northeast 
chamber and some real estate, to his daughter Esther 
Adams, and the children of his daughter Mary Lord, the 
household goods, and all the residue of real estate to his 
son Daniel.^ The house, barn and land were valued at 
£60.^^ 

Daniel Brown, bequeathed the improvement of his 
property to his widow Hannah, during her life or until 
her second marriage. He made his nephew, Daniel Smith, 
his sole heir. The will was approved, Jan. 4, 1796.5 
Daniel Smith's will, proved in 1844, provided for the 
division of his estate among his sons, Daniel Brown 
Smith, Thomas and Benjamin, and the Probate Record 
contains this interesting item : "Daniel Smith was a 

1 Essex Co. Deeds, book 4, leaf 534. 
'Essex Co. Probate Records, book 313, leaves 559,560. 
» Essex Co. Probate Records, book 335, leaf 229. 
♦ Essex Co. Probate Records, book 336, leaf 17. 
» Essex Co. Probate^Records, book 364, leaf 232. 
2 



18 ORIGINAL HOUSE LOTS ON HIGH STREET. 

Revolutionary pensioner, that he died on the 28"' day of 
January, 1844, that he left no widow, and that he left 
seven children and no more, viz. Daniel B., Thomas, 
Benjamin, Polly Lord, Elizabeth Treadwell, Sarah Per- 
kins, & Anna Kimball, and that they all of them are 
living and each of them is of full age.''^ 

Thomas received the homestead, and occupied it until 
his death at a great age, when he bequeathed it to his 
nephew Charles Smith, who removed the old buildings 
and built his present residence in the rear of the site of 
the homestead. Daniel B. received a part of the house-lot 
and built a house upon it, which he sold to his son, 
Nathaniel P. Smith, March 1, 1866. ^ It is now owned 
and occupied by his widow. 

1 Essex Co. Probate RecoiriB, book 412, leaves 315, 316. 
» Essex Co. Deeds, book 707, leaf 16. 



THE EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE 
TABLETS. 



On Thursday afternoon, July 31, 1902, at two o'clock, 
a goodly number of the members of the Historical So- 
ciety, with invited guests, and the citizens of the town, 
gathered about the ledge on the southeast side of the 
Meeting House, in which a bronze tablet had been in- 
serted. The President of the Society introduced Hon. 
Charles A. Say ward, who spoke as follows : 

We stand upon historic gronnd. No part of the ancient 
town has so many historical associations connected with it as the 
place where we are gathered. 

Two hundred and sixty-nine years ago, John Winthrop, Jr., 
and his twelve associates came through the wilderness from 
Boston and began the settlement of the town. Here they 
erected their first meeting house, which soou proved to be too 
small, and a larger and better building was erected. In 1700, 
this was found to be too small, and a more commodious building 
was erected. In time this gave way to the fourth meeting house, 
which stood until 1846, when it was removed and the present 
building erected. 

To this place Governor Winthrop came from Boston on foot 
in order that he might "exercise by way of prophecy" the people 
who were without a minister at the time. Here preached 
Nathaniel Ward, Nathaniel Rogers, John Norton, Thomas 
Cobbett, William Hubbard, the celebrated historian of the 
Indian wars; John Rogers, afterward president of Harvard 
college ; John Denison and a long line of able and eloquent 
ministers. Here the celebrated George Whitefield held great 
throngs entranced with his fiery eloquence. 

But the ministers and hearers were not entirely absorbed 
in purely religious work. The same men established the town 
government; "they built roads, established schools, cared for the 
poor, looked after the morals of the community, raised and 
drilled troops, not only for their own protection, but for the pro- 
tection of the colony. 

In the rear of this meeting house stood a fort ; across the 
street stood the prison, in front of which were the stocks ; 

(19) 



20 EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 

aud at the corner of the church, where the elm tree now stands, 
stood the whipping post. 

For many years the children gathered in the schoolhouse 
where the Denison schoolhouse now stands, across the way, 
and were educated to become worthy aud useful citizens. 

So you see this spot is fragrant with memories of the past, 
and it is our duty to keep these memories fresh for coming gen- 
erations. I may reverently describe it in the language of the 
Lord when he addressed Moses at Mount Horeb and said unto 
him ' ' Put off thy shoes from off tliy feet for the place whereon 
thou standest is holy ground." 

Therefore the town, under the direction of the Ipswich His- 
torical Society, has secured proper inscriptions, setting forth 
some of the prominent historical facts concerning this spot, in 
order that coming generations may not forget the story of the 
early days of the town and its founders, and we are here today 
to unveil and dedicate the tablet which records some of these 
historical facts. 

By invitation of the President, Miss Ruth Appleton, 
daughter of Mr. Francis R. Appleton, and a lineal de- 
scendant of Samuel Appleton, one of the earliest settlers, 
then removed the flag wliich covered the bronze tablet. 
The inscription is as follows : 

Ipswich was settled in March, 1633. On this hill-top the first meet- 
ing-house was built and surrounded with a stone fort. The present 
edifice is the fifth which has occupied this spot. Nathaniel "Ward, 
Nathaniel Rogers, John Norton, William Hubbard and Thomas Cobbett 
were the earliest in the long line of eminent ministers. 

The whipping-post, stocks and prison, were a few rods distant. 

Erected by the town in 1901. 

Nearly all present walked or rode to the ancient Cald- 
well house on High street, in front of which a boulder 
had been set, bearing a tablet, which marks the site of 
the Simon Bradstreet dwelling. The flag which covered 
it was removed by Oliver Wendell Hohnes, Chief Justice 
of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, a descendant 
from the Bradstreets. 

The inscription is as follows : 

Near this spot was the home of 

Simon Bradstreet 

Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony 

1675-168(5 aud 1689-1692. 

His wife, Ann, daughter of Gov. Dudley, was 

the first American poetess. 

They lived in Ipswich, 1635-1644. 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 21 

A little farther along, in front of the old Lummus house, 
now owned by Mr. Chester W. Bamford, a granite slab 
had been erected, with a bronze tablet, marking the 
Dudley location. This was unveiled by Augustine Jones, 
Esq., Principal of the Friends School, Providence, R. I., 
and a direct descendant from Governor Dudley. 

The inscription is : 

On this lot, originally nine aci'es 

was the house of 

Thomas Dudley, 

Governor of 

Massachusetts-Bay 

1635, 1640, 1645 and 1650. 

He dwelt here 

1635—1639. 

Returning to the Meeting-house of the First Parish, 
the Pastor of the Church, Rev. Edward Constant, offered 
prayer. Robert S. Rantoul, Esq., of Salem, President 
of the Essex Institute, was then introduced by the Presi- 
dent and spoke as follows : 

It would be a pleasure, if we were at liberty to do so without 
neglect of other topics claiming our attention, to devote the 
hour to the memory of Simon Bradstreet. The speaker who 
stands forth in an ancient community like this, proposing to 
address himself to the historic past, is embarrassed first of all 
with a plethora of topics. Time limits us to the merest passing 
thought. Neither one of the three famous preachers we are 
to commemorate today can be dismissed without a reverential 
word — one of them a travelled scholar, the first compiler of 
our Statute Laws, his resulting code well styled, in recognition 
of what laws ought to be, " The Body of Liberties ;" one of 
them the fast friend of Conant and the early chronicler of our 
infant years; one of them, in 1662, an embassador plenipo- 
tentiary to the mother country at the most critical epoch of our 
colonial life. Again, the market-place of the ancient town, 
perched like the Acropolis upon its highest hill-top, girt round 
about with the Court House, the whipping-post, the stocks, the 
witchcraft prison and the meeting-house on either hand, — this 
spot demands commemoration and a history by itself. And 
the two Colonial Governors, neighbors in their Ipswich homes, 
father-in-law and son-in-law, each with his famous spouse, 
the one the dean of Winthrop's company and deputy-governor 
before they sailed ; the other, outliving all the rest and living 
to see the longest term of service among the colonial magistrates 
of his century, and to be recalled by Hutchinson, following 



22 EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 

Mather and writing a centur}' later, as " The Nestor of New 
England," — what shall we say of these two men, both fitly to 
be honored in the services of today, except to plead the utter 
inadequacy of the time to do justice to such a tempting field 
of thought ! Indeed, one feels a sense of privation in being 
brought into the presence of personalities like these, — in 
having summoned up their august shades, only to wave them 
aside with the " hail and farewell "the crowded hour permits. 
They helped to make New England what it is. They are too 
human and too great to be simply marshalled in cold review. 
Each one of tliem claims his honorable notice and deserves his 
hour. And when I reflect that I am not the only speaker 
bidden, nor is mine the only topic to be treated, I am assured 
of your indulgence if I leave to others the broader field 
embraced in this unique occasion, while I devote the little time 
allotted me to the name and memor}'^ of Bradstreet. 

To this I am impelled by a variety of motives. His career 
was certainly a very marked one. It was a long, a varied, 
and an honorable career. Savage, the learned editor and anno- 
tator of Wiuthrop's Journal, ranks him with Saltonstall and 
the Winthrops ; saj's he was one of the younger magistrates 
when he was chosen a Commissioner of the United Colonies, 
and adds : " Perhaps the desert of none of our early rulers 
except the two Winthrops is equal to that of Governour Simon 
Bradstreet, whose labors equalled them both in duration ;" and 
again: "It has happened, that the talents of Governour 
Bradstreet have not been rated so highly as to me they seem to 
deserve, but the cause, probably, was his moderation in politics 
and religion. Our author [Winthrop] calls him a very able 
man. His contemporaries, in 1662, designed to send one of 
the ablest men in the country, as companion with Norton, to 
effect the difficult purpose of conciliating the crown ; and his 
success in that mission naturally dissatisfied some of the more 
eager spirits, whose disgust at the royal favour, thus obtained or 
promised, pursued Norton to the grave. The arguments about 
LaTour's business, and his defence of our titles to lauds against 
Andros's pretensions, give honourable evidence of talents." 

It may be true that the Nestor Governor has not had entire 
justice done him, though Mather, in his Magnalia, singles him 
out, as he does William Bradford and John Winthi"op, for a 
special chapter, and though Mather, while at issue with the 
Governor in the witchcraft troubles, speaks of him with unmixed 
and rather fulsome praise. Designating him as "Pater Patriae," 
he applies to him the Latin epitaph of the famous Roman 
lawyer, Simon Pistorius, which he translates thus : 

"Earth holds his mortal part : his honored name 
Shall put Time's impious hand to open shame," 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 23 

adding a Latin couplet of his own which he renders as follows : 

"Here lies New England's father ! Woe the day ! 
How mingles mightiest dust with meanest clay !" 

And Upham, in his exhaustive treatment of the witchcraft 
horror, says that Bradstreet was living, at the age of 90, at 
Salem during the witchcraft prosecutions in 1692, but, old as 
he was, and [)eriIous as it was, he made known his entire disap- 
proval of them. " It is safe to say," adds Upham, '' that, if 
he had not been superseded by the arrival of Sir William Phips 
as Governor under the new charter, they would never have taken 
place." 

Upham's treatment of Bradstreet's part in these transactions 
demands more space.* He says : 

At a Court of Assistants, on adjournment, held at Boston, on the 
20th of May, 1680 : The Grand Jury having presented Elizabeth Morse, 
wife of William Morse, she was tried and convicted of the crime of 
witchcraft. The Governor, on the 27th of May, "after the lecture," 
in the First Cluirch of Boston, pronounced the sentence of death upon 
her. On the 1st of June, the Governor and Assistants voted to re- 
prieve her "until the next session of the Court in Boston." At the 
said next session, the reprieval was still further continued. This 
seems to have produced much dissatisfaction, as is shown by the 
following extract from the records of the House of Deputies : — 

"The Deputies, on perusal of the Acts of the Honoured Court of 
Assistants, relating to the woman condemned for witchcraft, do not 
understand the reason why the sentence, given against her by said 
Court, is not executed : and the second reprieval seems to us beyond 
what the law Avill allow, and do therefore judge meet to declare our- 
selves against it, with reference to the concurrence of the honoured 
maiiistrates hereto " 

The action of the magistrates, on this reference, is recorded as 
follows : — 

" 3d of November, 1680. — Not consented to by magistrates. 

Edward Rawson, Secretary." 

The evidence against Mrs. Morse was frivolous to the last degree, 
without any of the force and effect given to support the prosecutions 
in Salem, twelye years afterwards, by the astounding confessions of 
the accused, and the splendid acting of the "afflicted children;" yet 
she was tried and condemned in Boston, and sentenced there on 
"Lecture-day." The representatives of the people, in the House of 
Deputies, cried out against her reprieve. She was saved by the 
courage and wisdom of Governor Bradstreet, subsequently a resident 
of Salem, where his ashes rest. . . . 

Things continued in the condition just described, — Mrs. Morse in 
jail under sentence of death; that sentence suspended by reprieves 
from the Governor from time to time, until the next year, when her 
husband, in her behalf and in her name, presented an earnest and touch- 
ing petition "to the honored Governor, Deputy-governor, Magistrates, 
and Deputies now assembled in Court, May the 18th, 1681," that her 

* The passage printed in smaller type was omitted in the reading. 



24 EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 

case might be concluded, one way or another. After referring to her 
condemnation, and to her attestation of Innocence, she says, " By the 
mercy of God, and the goodness of the honored Governor, I am 
reprieved." Slie begs the Court to "hearlieu to lier cry. a poor prisoner." 
She places herself at the foot of the tribunal of the General Court : " I 
now stand humbly praying your justice in hearing my case, and to 
determine therein as the Lord shall direct. I do not understand law, 
nor do I know how to lay my case before you as I ought; for want 
of which I humbly beg of your honors that my request may not be 
rejected." The House of Deputies, on the 24th of May, voted to give 
her a new trial. But the magistrates refused to concur in the vote ; 
and so the matter stood, for how long a time there are, I believe, no 
means of knowing. Finally, however, she was released from prison, 
and allowed to return to her own house. . . . 

The cases of Margaret Jones, Ann Hibbins, and Elizabeth Morse 
illustrate strikingly and fully the history and condition of the public 
mind in New England, and the world over, in reference to witchcraft 
in the seventeenth century. . . . The only real oflence proved upon 
Margaret Jones was that she was a successful practitioner of medicine, 
using only simple remedies. Ann Hibbins was the victim of the 
slanderous gossip of a prejudiced neighbor; all our actual knowledge 
of her oeing her Will, which proves that she was a person of much 
morethanordinary dignity of mind. . . . Elizabeth Morse appears to 
have been one of the best of Christian women. 'J'he accusations 
against them, as a whole, cover nearly the whole ground upon which 
the subsequent prosecutions in Salem rested. John Winthrop passed 
sentence upon Margaret Jones, John Endicott upon Ann Hibbins, 
and Simon Bradstreet upon Elizabeth Morse. The last-named 
governor performed the office as an unavoidable act of official duty, 
and prevented the execution of the sentence by the courageous use of 
his prerogative, in defiance of public clamor and the wrath of the 
representatives of the whole people of the colony. 

Dr. Palfrey, commenting on these events, endorses Upham's 
view in these words: "He had steadfastly refused to order 
the execution of a convicted witch some years before the Salem 
traged}' ; he is not known to have done anything to countenance 
the follies which had been rife in the last three months of his 
administration ; and there is every probability that, had he 
continued to be Chief Magistrate, the misery and shame which 
inaugurated his successor's government would have been 
spared." 

Unless these phrases are misleading, here is a character 
which will reward our study. Two centuries have been spent 
in efforts to explain away and excuse away the abominations 
of the witchcraft period, — to show that Boston led the way 
for Salem to follow, and that other parts of the world, both 
English speaking and of other tongues, were quite as culpable 
as we, and that religion and philosophy were both at fault 
rather than a lack of humanity. But if it is possible that we 
have in Bradstreet a magistrate who would, if he could, have 
put a period to the whole miserable business, that is something 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 25 

much more to the point. If we can fairly claim for Bradstreet 
that he saw the hideous abomination in its true light, that he 
saw it at the time as we see it now, and as it was, and did what 
one man could, at the risk of both personal comfort and 
official prestige, to arrest the horror, and that he would gladly 
have done more, then we shall have placed this venerable 
public servant on a pedestal of his own, and shall have raised 
him to the unique rank not only of the man who deserves best 
of his own time, but of one whose insight and firmness and 
independence of mind put him quite in advance of his day, and 
entitle him to a good deal more than an equal share in the 
enduring honors of the Chief Magistracy of Massachusetts. 

Simon Bradstreet was born at Horbling, near Boston, in 
Lincolnshire, in March, 1603. He was the son of a Non- 
Conformist minister whose name he bore, and who was settled 
at Horbling, who had been a Fellow of Immanuel College, 
Cambridge, and who preached at different times both in England 
and in Holland. His grandfather Bradstreet is described as "a 
Suffolk gentleman of fine estate." When a lad, Bradstreet had 
the advantage of good schooling until the age of fourteen, but 
the death of his father threw him then upon his own resources. 
Soon after, he became an inmate of the family of the Earl of 
Lincoln, the best family, in Cotton Mather's judgment, in all 
the peerage. How deeply enlisted in American colonization 
was the interest of this family is patent from the fact that one 
daughter, the Lady Arbella, had married Isaac Johnson of 
Winthrop's party, that another daughter had married the son 
of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and that a third was the wife of 
John Humphrey, chosen first deputy-governor with Winthrop, 
and yielding the place to Thomas Dudley, because he found 
himself unable to sail with the Winthrop party. In this noble 
family Bradstreet spent his next eight years under the tutelage 
of Thomas Dudley, who was his elder by a generation, and 
whose daughter he married just before the embarkation for 
New England. Dudley was then steward of this great baronial 
estate, which the young Earl of Lincoln had just inherited, but 
much encumbered through the prodigality of his grandfather. 
Bradstreet next acted as tutor to a son of the Earl of Warwick, 
who was just entered at Immanuel College, and, after a year, 
returned to the service of the Earl of Lincoln, where he 
succeeded Dudley in the office of steward. This place he filled 
to the lasting profit of the estate, later sustaining the same 
office in the service of the aged Countess of Warwick, a family 
also greatly interested in New England colonization. The 
Earl of Warwick had, about 1623, one of the earliest patents 
for Massachusetts Bay, but resigned it to the actual settlers of 



26 EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 

the tract a year or two later. And the venerable Countess, his 
mother, was recognized in letters of acknowledgment from 
the General Court, in 1634, as a benefactress of this plantation. 
Hutchinson says that Lincolnshire contributed more valuable 
colonists than any part of England, save possibly London. 
While associated with this family Bradstreet married, in 1628, 
Ann, the daughter of Thomas Dudley, and in 1629, having 
connected himself with the Winthrop party, in which Dudley 
had become deputy-Governor before leaving London, and he 
had been chosen an assistant at Southampton, sailed, early 
in 1630, for New England. Savage thinks he had studied law, 
and this is not unlikely, for the responsible position of steward 
of one of these vast estates might well demand it, a position of 
more social importance than its designation would at once import. 
Twenty odd years ago, I passed a summer near Warwick, 
and the old mediaeval stronghold, small as its population was, 
was then entitled, under the political system of England, to 
two seats in the House of Commons. Its eleven thousand 
people were so generally tenants of his Grace, the Earl of 
Warwick, and its burgesses were so generally dependent on 
the Earl for patronage and occupation, that the two seats in 
Parliament were traditionally held to be at that nobleman's 
disposal. Accordingly, one of his sons filled one of the seats 
and his steward the other. 

Bradstreet landed at Salem with Winthrop in June, 1630. 
In company with the Governor, he pushed on at once in search 
of a site for the new capital-town, which was to defeat the 
designs of Oldham and Gorges on the Charles River Valley, 
singularly enough reaching Charlestown on the now historic 
seventeenth of June, and he was present at the first meeting 
of the Court of Assistants, held at Charlestown, on the twenty 
third of August, having taken the oath as Assistant, before the 
Governor and others, March 23, on board the Arbella. From 
this time on, through an unbroken period of sixty-two years, a 
period without parallel in our history before or since, he was in 
the continuous service, as a Magistrate, of the people of Mas- 
sachusetts Bay. By repeated spontaneous popular elections, 
and also by repeated honorable designations by appointment, 
this remarkable man was put forward as the one citizen of 
Massachusetts who, early and late, enjoyed the unqualified 
respect and trust of all his neighbors. He saw three generations 
of men for his contemporaries. While it was true that no other 
magistrate approached him in length and variety of service, it 
was impossible that in all these years he should not fall under 
somebody's condemnation, but the criticisms upon him, as in the 
later cases of Washington and Lincoln, never ventured beyond 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 27 

charges of slowness and indecision. No voice was raised to 
question his integrity of purpose, and those who impugned 
his judgment and were impatient of his caution were never 
numerous enough or strong enough to compass his displacement. 
This can only be attributed, in such a case, to the dominancy 
of strong personal character. Had his administration been 
colorless and feeble, he might have escaped active antagonisms, 
but then, to hold his place, he must needs have been backed by 
a strong sustaining agency from without. At no time could he 
rely on such support. The source of Bradstreet's strength was 
the unstinted confidence of his fellow colonists. 

Soon after the settlement at Charlestown, June 17, 1630, and 
the resulting settlement at Boston, Sept. 17, 1630, Bradstreet 
seems to have had a hand, during the following spring, in the 
planting of Newetowne, which was a year or two later to be 
called Cambridge and was, in 1638, incorporated as Cambridge, 
the college being then and there established. But, before 1636, 
Bradstreet seems to have interested himself in the building 
up of Ipswich, at a later date, according to Dr. Palfrey, second 
only to Boston in size and impoi tance among the great towns 
of the colony. This growth is anticipated in what Wood says 
of Ipswich, before 1633, in his " New England's Prospect:" 

" Agowamme is nine miles to the North from Salem, which 
is one of the most spatious places for a plantation, being neare 
the sea, it aboundeth with fish, and flesh of fowles and beasts, 
great Meads and Marshes and plaiue plowing grounds, many 
good rivers and harbours and no rattle snakes. In a word, it 
is the best place but one, which is Merrimacke, lying 8 miles 
beyond it, where is a river 20 leagues navigable, all along the 
river side is fresh Marshes, in some places 3 miles broad. In 
this river is Sturgeon, Sammon, and Basse, and divers other 
kinds of fish. To conclude, the Countrie hath not that vphich 
this place cannot yeeld. So that these two places may containe 
twice as many people as are yet in new England : there being 
as yet scarce any inhabitants in these two spacious places." 
That Bradstreet made his residence at Ipswich, from the winter 
of 1635-6 until 1642, appears from Felt's history of the town. 
Savage, in his notes to Winthrop's Journal, places him there 
in 1644. But he seems to have been established at Andover, 
of which fine old town he is also the acknowledged founder, 
before the close of that year. 

During these years, Vane, Winthrop, Thomas Dudley, 
Bellingham, and Endecott had shared the chief-magistracy at 
different periods between them, and it is interesting to note 
that Bradstreet's father-in-law, Dudley,was a resident of Ipswich 
while he was Governor of the Colony and while his gifted 



28 EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 

daughter, the wife of Bradstreet, was living here as his near 
neighbor. The Ipswich Appletous were also neighbors, and 
Palfrey thinks it probable that the revered preacher, Nathaniel 
Appleton, had sat on Bradstreet's knee. Bellingham, while 
Governor in 1641, seems also to have resided in Ipswich, at 
that time the centre of a rare group of remarkable men. 

Ann Dudley, the first wife of Governor Bradstreet, was the 
mother of his family. She died at Andover in September, 1672, 
and Bradstreet left Andover soon after. He seems to have been 
fortunate in his mate. She had married at sixteen, and while 
she reared eight children, two of the four sons graduates of 
Harvard fitted partl>' by her care, had time enough and gift 
enough to write considerable volumes of prose and verse, — the 
first woman in America to challenge attention to her scholarship 
and the products of her pen. To her poetic fervor two of her 
descendants, the poet Dana and the poet Holmes, may owe 
theiri^fame. 

I wish it were possible to give a passing word to this 
pioneer among the unexplored possibilities of American letters. 
Tributes of alfection for the honored Governor, her husband, 
are among the finest lines she ever wrote. One of them 
contains this outburst of womanly pride and ardor, in which 
no happily-married woman will fail to catch the true ring : 

" To my dear and loving Husband : 

" If ever two were one, then surelj' we ; 
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee ; 
If ever wife were happy in a man, 
Compare with me, ye women, if you can ! 
I prize thy love more than whole Mines of Gold, 
Or all the riches that the East doth hold. 
My love is such that Rivers cannot quench. 
Nor aught but love from thee give recompense." 

From the Bradstreets the great Channing also and Wendell 
Phillips, the matchless orator, both trace descent. 

We need not lack acquaintance with Bradstreet's personal 
appearance and habits. His portraits hang in the State House, 
and at the Essex Institute, and there is an especially good one 
in the City Hall at Salem, where Endecott bears him company, 
— the first and the last of the Colonial Governors, and both at 
times residents of Salem. His views of personal expenditure 
were liberal. He iiad built a fine mansion at Andover which 
was burned, with his books and papers, in 1666. His dress 
and bearing towards the end of his career are thus described in 
the language of a Jesuit Father, quoted in Winsor's Memorial 
History of Boston : " An old man, quiet and grave, dressed in 



EXERCISES AT THE I XVEILTNft OF THE TABLETS. 29 

black silk, but not sumptuously." And Winsor adds his own 
estimate of the man in these words : "He seemed to concentrate 
in himself the dignity and wisdom of the first century of 
Massachusetts." 

Bradstreet is accredited with much activity in the building up 
of Andover, almost a frontier settlement in those early decades, 
where he remained, faithfully discharging, as often as called on, 
sundry offices of the town, until 1672. There he owned much 
land and promoted many enterprises. He built the first mill 
on the Cochickewick, an Andover tributary of the Merrimack, 
in 1644. In September, 1638, he had been the chief proprietor 
in the founding of Salisbury; in 1656 he owned salt-works at 
Nahant; and in 1674 owned the Rowley iron- works in a section 
of the town now incorporated as Boxford. He also owned 
estates in Topsfield, some of them, until recently, descending 
in the name. He had lands and dwelling-houses at Watertown, 
Cambridge and Boston. As early as 1639 he had a grant of 
five hundred acres of land near Governor Endecott's farm, 
now Danvers. 

Time fails us to rehearse in more detail the value of Governor 
Bradstreet's life-services to this community. But no lover of 
the grand old Commonwealth, proud of her history, can be 
indifferent to them. The length of his term of office is without 
a parallel. It began with the beginning of the State. He was 
chosen at the last meeting of the Court of Assistants in Eng- 
land. It outlasted all those in conspicuous standing who came 
with Winthrop. Near half a century an Assistant, ten years 
Chief Magistrate, twenty-four years a Commissioner of the 
Colonial Confederacy, he was thrown upon times when intense 
suspicion and jealousy of the home government were the rule, 
and periods of tranquillity and quiet prosperity were the excep- 
tion ; when border warfare with the Indians and French and 
Dutch gave way, from time to time, only to internal commotion 
and revolutionary turmoil. Bradstreet had need, day by day, 
for the sixty-two years of his official tenure, of a steadiness of 
purpose, a power of resistance, a wholesome self-assertion, a 
clear insight and perception, an unfailing judgment, which may 
well excuse the lack of those more showy qualities his critics 
grudge him. His epitaph, placed by the Province on the 
monument in the old Salem graveyard, tells in stately Latin 
how he poised in an equal balance the Authority of the King 
and the Liberty of the People. That he did not lack energy 
at the age of forty-one appears from Winthrop's naming him 
with Ward and Symonds and Saltonstall of Ipswich, and with 
Hathorne of Salem, in the dangerous young Essex Cabal of 
1644. That he did not lack energy at the age of eighty-seven 
appears from the success of his expedition for the capture of 



30 EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 

Port Royal and the annexation of Nova Scotia, on which he 
sent a fleet while he was acting as Provisional Governor, with 
what Bancroft calls his Council of Safety behind him, at a 
time when every step talven was taken at his peril, and he 
might pay for it with his head, whether success or failure 
attended the upheaval. Jacob Leisler, the usurping Governor 
of New York, was condemned to death and beheaded for his 
part in a like transaction. 

Bradstreet crowned his long career with a most extraordinary 
triumph. When we consider his extreme age, the risks sur- 
rounding the undertaking, and the readiness with which he 
might have found an excuse, had he sought an excuse, in his 
sixty years of unbroken and honorable service, — the picture of 
the brave old man, riding up King Street to wrest the Colony, 
its Magistracy and its Archives from the faithless hands of 
Andros, and to commit him to the stronghold of his own 
providing, is one well calculated to stir the blood of Ipswich 
men who proudly claim Bradstreet for a former townsman. Let 
me attempt to outline this historic picture. 

William of Orange, later William the Third of England, — the 
second invader of the name to enter England, — had landed at 
Torbay, November 5, 1688, in execution of an attempt upon 
the British crown. News travelled slowly then and, beyond 
vague rumors by the way of Holland, nothing was known here 
of this startling fact until it reached us, in the April following, 
through the West India Islands, then in as close relations as 
was New England with Great Britain. Attempts like this are 
far from certain of success, — witness two such made by 
Napoleon III before he succeeded in climbing to the throne of 
France, — and there were several periods during this enterprise 
Avhen it seemed doomed to failure. In fact no measure of success 
could be predicated of it before February, 1689, and at the 
time the dispatches which reached Boston announcing the 
Revolution had left England, the issue of it hung doubtful in 
the balance. But so thorough was the estrangement of the 
Colonies from the Mother Country, and so complete the 
readiness to profit by every possible event, that the slightest 
spark was enough to fire the magazine of public indignation. 
The people of Massachusetts Bay did not hesitate to take all 
chances, and to link their fate irrevocabl}'^, — sink or swim, — 
with the Revolt in England. Andros had been Governor here 
for three years, since he deposed Bradstreet and the Charter in 
1686, and he was known to be unscrupulous and grasping. 
He was just returning from an unsuccessful movement against 
the Indians of Maine. He seems to have known no more than 
the people of Massachusetts knew about the rising storm in 
England. On April 18, a fortnight after the first tidings of 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 31 

revolt reached Boston, upon secret preparation, the Town was 
early abroad. Thursday, weekly lecture day, — this brought 
many from the suiroundiug towns to Boston, — was the day 
selected on which to try the issue. It was also Council day. In 
the morning, a patriot party seized the Captain of the "Rose" 
Frigate who ventured on shore at Long Wharf to report to the 
Governor, and held him prisoner. Wild rumors of movements 
of the Royal Regiments stirred the town. At nine, the drums 
beat an alarm. A signal was displayed on Beacon Hill. 
Presently, marching up King Sti'eet, now State Street, straight 
for the Town House at its head, came the veteran who had 
never failed them, — Bradstreet, — the last of the Old Charter 
Governors, — with Danforth, the last deputj^-governor, and the 
rest, proceeding under military escort to the Council Chamber, 
where they possessed themselves of the persons of the Royal 
Officers who had been summoned there, happily including 
among them the Castle jailer. All these they placed under 
lock and key. At high noon a proclamation was read to the 
people from the Eastern balcony looking down the street, 
declaring the objects and designs of the uprising. Proceed- 
ings like these sound more like Paris than like sober Boston. 
The proclamation detailed grievances, — it singled out and 
named the oppressors of the people, — it referred with jubilation 
to the hopeful movement of the Prince of Orange, — it professed 
lo\^alty to the British Crown and Parliament, — and it appealed 
to Heaven and to the common sense of justice in mankind. By 
two o'clock, twenty companies of militia were under arms in 
Boston and several more were waiting at Charlestown to cross 
the feny. A summons for immediate surrender was presented 
to Andros, as he was tardily attempting an escape on board 
the Frigate lying at Long Wharf. Her ports were open, her 
colors all displayed, her guns trained upon the Town House 
and her decks cleared for action. The gig sent ashore for 
Andros was promptly captured by the party bearing the 
summons. But Andros made good his escape and reached the 
stronghold he had erected on Fort Hill. Vigorous preparations 
were then made to storm the palisado-fortress at the end of 
the Battery March, and to take the Governor in his retreat. 
Andros demanded a parley and this was refused. He then 
surrendered and was taken under close guard to the Town 
House. Nothing remained but to disable the Castle in the 
harbor and the Frigate at the wharf. It was now four o'clock. 
The final act in the drama was deferred until the morrow, 
when all this was promptly effected, bringing the successful 
issue of the struggle on the since historic 19th day of April, 
and Bradstreet was able to report to the Revolutionary party 
in England that it was "effected without bloodshed and without 



32 EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 

pluuder." It must be remembered that the actors in this high- 
handed movement had absolutely no authority from anybody. 
The only warrant they had was derived from the knowledge 
that the people put confidence in their wisdom and in the 
integrity of their purposes. For a period of forty days after 
this, the British officers in Boston claimed to have no trust- 
worthy confirmation of the success of the Prince of Orange, 
and it was only on the 29th day of the following month that 
William III was proclaimed King of England at Boston. 

In the narrative of this pivotal event I have followed pretty 
closely the authority of Dr. Palfrey, who is never disposed 
to over-praise the Nestor Governor at any period of his career. 
Bancroft paints the picture on the same lines but his colors are 
more ornate. The records of the British State Paper OflSce, 
now in print, are accessible in our larger libraries, and the 
Boston Public Library has a choice, unique and most interesting 
and valuable collection of proclamations and broadsides issued 
during this exciting crisis. 

During his second term in the Chief Magistracy, lasting three 
years and ending in his ninetieth year, Bi'adstreet filled that 
honorable place to general acceptance. There may have been 
more picturesque figures in the life of that day, and there may 
have been more aggressive forces, — there were many younger 
and more ambitious aspirants in the political life of the Colony. 
But it is fair to say that, at each recurring period of popular 
election, no other man was seriously thought of for that trying 
post while the Nestor Governor could be retained. He was not 
inactive. Nova Scotia was conquered and annexed, and Canada 
was attacked, and his policy seems to have been to be able, 
if possible, to offer to the home government a confederacy 
stretching from the St. Lawrence to the Hudson, in considera- 
tion of the broader Charter rights to which the Province, now- 
loyal to the new but not too friendly dynasty, believed herself 
entitled. New England grew in her general resources if not 
in her financial capacity, she grew in her population, she 
broadened in her political philosophy, and in her demands on 
the reigning dynasty in England. At last, in 1692, Bradstreet 
was able, as he had long been ready, to surrender his high oflSce 
to a new and younger governor, under a new and in some 
respects a better Charter, and to retire from a position of stress 
and peril to the five years of rest which he had earned so well, 
and which he passed at Salem, having married there, in 1676, a 
niece of Governor Winthrop. On his death, March 27, 1697, 
says Palfrey, he was the last survivor of those founders w'ho had 
been chosen to the Magistracy before they came from England. 
" When he emigrated he was twenty-eight years old ; he lived 
to complete his ninety-fifth year. The General Court voted to 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 83 

contribute a hundred pounds towards the expenses of his burial, 
in consideration of his long and extraordinary service." He 
was buried at Salem with a good deal of ceremony, and the 
diary of Chief Justice Sewall, one of his pall-bearers, details 
the unusual honors paid his memory. '■ He had been Secretary 
of the Colony," Palfrey adds, " an Assistant forty-six years, 
a Commissioner of the Confederacy twenty- four times. Agent to 
England, Deputy Governor and Governor. Not often has a 
human memory been laden with experiences more diversified. 
A youth passed amidst the refinements of old civilization, — 
then the destitution of a wilderness and conflicts with savage 
men, — the growth of a virtuous and vigorous Commonwealth, — 
its subversion, resurrection and reorganization under restricted 
but permanent conditions, — such was the outline of nearly a 
century's events traced by the recollections of a leading actor 
in them." 

New England must be rich indeed in the great characters of 
history if she can afford to forget so sound, so safe, so broad- 
minded, so sturdy a magistrate amongst her honored list as 
Simon Bradstreet ! 



Following Mr. Rantoul, Chief Justice Oliver Wendell 
Holmes, of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, spoke 
briefly, as follows : — 

We are told by scholars that the Greeks and Romans built 
up their cities and their civilization on the worship of their 
ancestors and care for the shadowy needs of the dead. That 
ancient religion has vanished, but the reverence for venerable 
traditions remains. I feel it to my finger tips, but with just the 
change from personal and family story to the larger, vaguer, but 
not less inspiring belief that we tread a sacred soil. I have 
been too busy trying to account for myself to stop to account 
for my ancestors. I have the poems of Ann Bradstreet, that 
pale passion flower of our first spring, but I do not read them 
often, and I cannot say much more of Governor Dudley than 
that what I once wrongly thought his portrait, in modest form, 
hangs in my house. But I love every brick and shingle of the 
old Massachusetts towns where once they woi'ked and prayed, 
and I think it a noble and pious thing to do whatever we may 
by written word and moulded bronze and sculptured stone to 
keep our memories, our reverence and our love alive and to 
hand them on to new generations all too ready to forget. 

It may be that we are to be replaced by other races that 
come here with other traditions and to whom at first the great 
3 



34 EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 

past of Massachusetts seems, as they sometimes proclaim it, but 
the doings in a corner of a little band of provincial heretics. 
But I am bold to hope that the mighty leaven that swelled the 
hearts of the founders of this Commonwealth still works and 
will work even under altered forms, — that their successors will 
keep the state what the founders made it, a hearthstone for 
sacred fire. 

We all, the most unbelieving of us, walk by faith. We 
do our work and live our lives not merely to vent and realize our 
inner force, but with a blind and trembling hope that somehow 
the world will be a little better for our striving. Our faith 
must not be limited to our personal task, to the present, or 
even to the future. It must include the past and bring all, 
past, present and future, into the unity of a single continuous 
life. We consecrate these memorials of what has been with 
the intent and expectation that centuries from now those who 
read the simple words will find their lives richer, their purposes 
stronger, against the background of that different past. 

From early days there have been built in the ports of Essex 
County, or drawn to them from neighboring towns, boats that 
were to seek from them new harbors across the barren sea. So, 
in altered guise, long may it be with us. Long may it be true, 
as it still is, that not only we, descendants of the stern old 
builders, but many others from afar who come here to launch 
their craft may send to all the havens of the world new 
thoughts and tlie impulses of great deeds. To the accomplish- 
ment of that prayer it is no slight help to feel that we have a 
past, to remember that many generations of men have stored 
the earth — yes, this very spot — with electric example. Modest 
as they are, the monuments now unveiled seem to me trumpets 
which two hundred years from now may blow the great battle 
calls of life, as two hundred years ago those whom they com- 
memorate heard them in their hearts. And to many a gallant 
spirit, two hundred years from now as two hundred years ago, 
the white sands of Ipswich, terrible as engulfing graves, lovely 
as the opal flash of fairy walls, will gleam in the horizon, the 
image of man's mysterious goal. 



Augustine Jones, A.M., of Providence, Principal of 
the Friends School, was the next speaker. 



THOMAS DUDLEY. 



It is now a year since I visited in England and Holland the 
homes and haunts of the New England Puritans and Pilgrims. 

I am sure no places can be more sacred or interesting than 
the humble dwellings and their neighborhood, where these heroic 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 35 

souls were nurtured : — the homes of Isaac aud Arbella John- 
son, of Dudley, Bradstreet, Bradford and Brewster. We 
wander over the same permanent highways, familiar to them. 

Nothing perhaps affects us so much as the little village 
churches, some of them five hundred years old, where these 
memorable fathers and founders were christened, and married, 
and where they learned to worship the living God. Thither 
their feet in childhood were turned, here they caught early 
thoughts of righteousness, which they built into the founda- 
tions of their work in the new world. Here is St. Botolphs, in 
Boston, Eng., with its perpendicular tower 300 feet high, the 
finest church in its day, which Rev. John Cotton left, to minister 
in a desolate cabin, with a straw thatched roof, in Boston, Mass. , 
furnishing forever an illustrious example of devotion to duty, 
and obedience to conviction. 

We are assembled today upon one of the spots made notable 
by these same historic personages. My friends, it is good for 
us to be here. It is a noble work to cherish every spot made 
bright by the presence of the founders of Massachusetts. 
Edward Everett said, "I reverence, this side of idolatry, the 
wisdom and fortitude of the revolutionary and constitutional 
leaders, but I believe we ought to go back beyond them all, for 
the real framers of the commonwealth." 

Governor Thomas Dudley, a Puritan second only to Gov- 
ernor John Winthrop in founding the Colony of Massachusetts, 
and in its history from 1630 until 1653, was born at North- 
ampton, England, in the year 1576. He was without doubt, 
descended from John Sutton, the first Baron Dudley of Dudley 
Castle. He was therefore connected by blood with the Duke 
of Northumberland, Lord Guilford Dudley and Sir Philip 
Sidney. We are not, however, unmindful that the greatness of 
Governor Dudley arose not from his distinguished ancestry but 
from his life work. Far above "The boast of heraldry, the 
pomp of power," is the imperishable renown, of being one of 
the foremost among the founders of this great state, dedicated 
to liberty, to the freedom of human thought, to the worth and 
excellence of individual character. 

His youth was spent in the midst of wealth, luxury and 
splendor. The Comptons were not Puritans, they intensely 
enjoyed the good things of life. Here, in all the excess of 
fashion and joviality, Dudley in robust youth and even to vig- 
orous manhood took his leading share. When, in later years, 
he was Governor of Massachusetts, a Puritan of Puritans, with 
grave responsit)ilities, in peril from enemies at home and abroad, 
and above all with a burning zeal for the welfare of Zion, when 
"All his serious thoughts had rest in heaven," how often he 



36 EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILmG OF THE TABLETS. 

must have recalled those frivolous days at Compton-Winyates 
and Ashby Castle ! He survives in the memory of men, because 
he had served mankind, while the gay throng who joined him in 
the dance are forgotten. Here is an answer to those persons, 
who allege that he was not well bred. 

He resided for nearly fourteen years, from 1616, at, or near, 
ancient Sempringham, in Lincolnshire. He was very success- 
ful in the management of the estates of the Earl of Lincoln. 
He discharged great debts, to the amount of one hundred 
thousand dollars, and left the estate prosperous. Perhaps 
one of the most marvelous features in it, after all, was that he 
acquired such an ascendency over the Earl, that he allowed him 
to restrain his expenditures. He was entrusted even with the 
delicate service of procuring a match between the daughter of 
Lord Say and the Earl. Dudley conferred enduring immortality 
upon this ladj^ by writing to her a letter from his desolate home 
in Boston, Mass., which will be thoughtfully and gratefully read 
by citizens of the United States forever, while the brilliant 
women, who were her companions in society, will be forgotten. 

The time had arrived in 1630 when he was to make his pil- 
grimage to America, never to return. He had no need to 
make a business adventure over the ocean, he was now retired 
from business, and was one of the most affluent men in the 
Colony in America. If the indispensable things of life did not 
draw him from the comfort and luxury of Old England, what 
were the motives? Certainly nothing less than the desire for 
civil and religious liberty, for himself and his posterity. So 
soon as he was assured that the Massachusetts charter would 
go to America with them, and that the possibilities of a pure 
church and noble state lay before them, he consulted not with 
flesh and blood, but joined in the adventure. Mather says 
"The times began to look black and cloudy upon the Non-con- 
formists, of which Mr. Dudley was one to the full." The king 
was glad to get rid of them ; freedom to worship God was 
before them. " The Puritans," says Lowell, "were the most 
perfect incarnation of an idea that the world has seen." 

Dudley had twenty-three years before him ; they were a 
glorious remnant of life, full of self saciificing privations, upon 
which he entered "with firmness in the right, as God gave liim 
to see the right." The most important emigration to America, 
which was ever made (it saved the Pilgrims at Plymouth) and 
it is sometimes said, which has ever been made in the history 
of the world, was about to be undertaken, and Dudley was to 
have a leading part in it. 

They sailed from Southampton March 22, 1630, in the ship 
Arbella. Dudley had been elected Deputy Governor, an office 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 37 

which he held subsequently thirteen different years. He was 
Governor four years, and President of the Commissioners of 
the United Colonies three years. They issued upon their de- 
parture a letter to the Church of England, full of loyalty to 
her, which some persons have thought to have been insincere, 
but they were destined to meet soon with many instructive les- 
sons, which would rapidly lead them to independency. They 
took with them the Charter of Massachusetts, which act of 
transfer has been criticised, but it has recently been ascertained 
that before their departure, the clause confining the govern- 
ment to England had been removed from it by agreement, and 
their action thoroughly justified. 

They arrived in America in June, 1630. They were not sat- 
isfied with Salem as a permanent home, because of the loss 
there of eighty emigrants before their arrival. They dwelt in 
Charlestown for a short time, but some of them, including 
Winthrop and Dudley, spent their first winter in Boston. They 
entered on the 13th day of July into the Covenant of the 
First Church of Boston, and chose Rev. Mr. Wilson as their 
teacher. Their mode of church institution was not in accord 
with the Church of England. It was like the method of the 
Separatists in the Plymouth Colony. The earlier church at 
Salem was possessed with the same independency. 

" Hail to the spirit wMch dared 
Trust its own thoughts before yet 
Echoed him back by the crowd !" 

It has been asserted also, that their government was a Theoc- 
racy, that is to say a government, or organized system of 
priests like the Hebrews. This was never true of the govern- 
ment of Massachusetts. Ministers were not allowed positions 
in the civil government. They were consulted, as the Supreme 
Court now is, by the executive, as to the meaning of law. They 
were a body most learned as to the meaning of Scripture ; and 
the Bible was their statute book. It might as well be claimed 
that the judiciary and not the executive rules the state. That 
none but church members possessed the franchise has been re- 
garded as important and as establishing a Theocracy, but every 
government is arbitrary and guided by policy in extending the 
franchise to citizens. It is declared not to be a constitutional 
right guaranteed to anybody even at the present time. The 
Christian religion always has been fundamental in the govern- 
ment, the whole common law rests upon it, as a foundation, 
but that is no reason why the government should be denomi- 
nated a Theocracy. 

One of the first diflaculties these people had to encounter was 



38 EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 

Roger Williams, who is generally said to have beeu banished to 
Rhode Island, but no act of banishment was ever enforced upon 
him. He was to have been sent to England ; but, to avoid this, 
he went voluntarily to Rhode Island. The teachings of Williams 
were then believed, in Massachusetts, to be subversive of law 
and order. He was at the head of his own government in 
Rhode Island only a little over two years, and that period was 
long after Dudley and Winthi'op were gone. A careful exami- 
nation will lead one to sympathize with the executive of Mas- 
sachusetts and with its efforts to save its holy experiment of 
government. 

The career of Thomas Dudley in England, before he came to 
America at the age of lifty-four, was highly creditable, and 
was fully sustained by his life and subsequent character here. 
He belonged to that immediate age, after the Bible came to 
the English common people. He delighted in the preaching 
of the greatest and most learned Puritan divines, both in Eng- 
land and America. The government of Massachusetts w^as 
substantially organized, as we at present know it, while Dudley 
and Winthrop were still living, so that we may well regard it, 
as the work of these early founders, and their associates. 
Mr. Dudley was a Puritan of the Cromwell, Pym and Hampden 
school of men. They were indeed associated personally in 
several matters ; they were all God-fearing, honest, reliable and 
trustworthy. No other family had such a hold on the govern- 
ment and the high places of power before or since, as the 
Dudleys held in Massachusetts in its first century. 

It has been said, that these men had no conception of the 
magnitude of the foundations they were laying, that they were 
building better than they knew. Jt is not that the greatness of 
the superstructure was revealed to them. But the generic quality 
of the government came from their hands completely outlined, 
and their descendants have only wrought out in detail the con- 
ception and ideal of the fathers. 

We may reasonably cherish the thought, that so long as 
government by the people interests mankind, that so long as 
men study and search for immemorial freedom in democratic 
Athens, or in the mountains of Switzerland, or along the dykes 
of Holland, the Puritans of England and Massachusetts will 
be regaided as the crowning glory of all whicli went before 
them. Royalty overwhelmed them in Europe ; it was only in 
New England that they survived and advanced to ultimate 
achievement. 

It is a question whether, if Rev. Thomas Hooker and Gov- 
ernor Haynes and other Cambridge people had not emigrated 
to Connecticut in 1635, Governor Dudley and his family and 



EXERCISES AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLETS. 39 

friends would have removed to Ipswich. Dudley went soon 
after his first term as Governor. Hooker and Cotton were 
antagonistic and so were Wiuthrop and Haynes. Dr. John Eliot 
says, " had Hooker been called to tlie Church in Boston, and 
Mr. Haynes had no rival in Winthrop, it is most probable they 
would have continued with their people in Massachusetts," and 
the emigration which interests us today would not have taken 
place. These dispersions were all of the greatest importance 
in the settlements. Dr. George E. Ellis says that the Antino- 
mian troubles in Massachusetts were the cause. Cotton Mather 
says that the country soon found need of Dudley's wisdom and 
joyously welcomed his return to Rosbury near to Boston, a 
little before his second election as Governor. 



ANNUAL MEETING. 



The Annual Meeting of the Ip&wich Historical Society 
was held on Monday evening Dec. 1, 1902, at the House 
of the Society. The following officers were elected for 
the year ensuing : 

Pi^esident. — T. Frank Waters. 
Vice Presidents. — John B. Brown, 

Francis R. Appleton. 
Clerk. — John W. Goodhue. 
Directors. — Charles A. Say ward, 
John H. Cogswell, 
John W. Nourse. 
Correspondt7ig Secretary. — John H. Cogswell. 
Treasurer. — T. Frank Waters. 
Librarian. — John J. Sullivan. 

The following Committees were chosen : 

On Historical Tablets. 

Charles A. Say ward, 
John H. Cogswell, 
John B. Brown, 
T. Frank Waters. 

Social Coivimittee. 

Ralph W. Burnham, 
Chester P. Woodbury, 
Edward Constant, 
Mrs. Charles A. Say ward, 
Mrs. John J. Sullivan, 
Miss Susan C. Whipple, 
Miss Bertha Dobson, 
Mrs. Cordelia Damon, 
Miss Anna W. Ross. 

(40) 



ANNUAL REPORT. 41 



Ox Membership. 



John W. Nourse, 
Ralph W. Burnham, 
Robert S. Khnball, 
Mrs. Harriet E. Noyes, 
Mrs. Elizabeth M. Brown. 

The Reports of the Treasurer, Curator and President 
were read and ordered to be printed. 

It was voted that a Life Membership be established and 
that the admittance fee be fifty dollars. 



REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE IPSWICH 
HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



The most interesting event in the history of the past 
year is the purchase of the remainder of the lot of land, 
including the old barn, which has been an unsightly and a 
somewhat dangerous neighbor. The removal of this 
building will enhance the appearance of our house and 
grounds very materially, and ample room is provided for 
the erection at some future date, and an early one, we 
hope, of a Memorial Building. Such a building is needed 
already to allow room for the expanding collections, and 
to provide proper accommodations for meetings and social 
occasions. 

The price paid for this land was large, and we regret 
that the mortgage debt of the Society is increased to 
$3,500. But the wisdom of the purchase will not be 
questioned, since the acquisition of this land is of vital 
importance. Although the sum needed for payment of 
interest is increased to $140 per year, this is a very 
reasonable rental for a property that is so finely situated 
and so admirably adapted to our use. The Treasurer's 
report assures us as well, that no heavy burden will be 
entailed by this investment. The revenue from member- 
ship fees and incidental gifts during the past year has 
been $48G.53, and the income from the House, from door 
fees and the sale of pictures, etc., has added $162.11, 
making the total receipts $648.64. The House receipts 
were only six dollars smaller than last year, and the 
number of visitors exceeded by nearly a hundred the 
recorded list of the previous year. There seems no 
reason to believe that the number of visitors will not re- 
main as large at least in the future. The income from 
yearly dues is larger each year. Notwithstanding some 

(42) 



-^ 5 




REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT. 43 

unusual expense for painting, papering, varnishing of 
floors and the like, a balance of two hundred and thirteen 
dollars remains in the treasury. 

Apart from the financial strength that accrues from a 
large membership, it is gratifying to our pride that our 
Society has attained a position in the community that 
renders membership desirable. It numbers noAv about 
two hundred and fifteen active members, each of whom 
pays an annual due, and forty-six honorary members. 
Many are non-residents w^ho are interested in the Town 
as the home of their ancestors, and many more are resi- 
dent for the summer only. One of our number, Dr. E. 
S. Goodhue, is the Government Ph3^sician in "Wailuku, 
in the island of Maui, in the Hawaiian group ; another, 
Mr. Joseph K. Farley, resides in Lihue, Kauai, in the 
same group, and some are found upon the Pacific coast. 

Our House is always a source of enthusiastic delight to 
visitors, who appreciate its architectural value. Cultured 
people from many towns and cities in our Commonwealth 
and from twenty-eight other States, have visited the House 
during the past year, and their verdict is always the same : 
that the House is the most remarkable specimen of the 
earliest architecture they have ever seen. So eminent an 
authority as the Hon. George Sheldon of Deerfield, who 
has been a life-long student of the antique and has 
gathered an unrivalled collection of old-time treasures, 
after a minute inspection, gave the House unstinted praise 
as the finest of ancient buildings of our colony, and com- 
plimented the Society on the excellence of its exhibit. 

To promote acquaintance with the House and its con- 
tents an occasional free day has been advertised. It was 
opened in this w^ay on the twenty-second of February, and 
also on July thirty-first. Notwithstanding the opportunity 
thus afforded to those who are not members, or who 
might be deterred by the usual admittance fee, only two 
hundred and fifty-one residents of Ipswich were recorded 
during the year. As familiarity always breeds contempt, 
we presume that this neglect is likely to continue. But 
any scheme that would tend to popularize it with our 
townspeople, would be for the advantage of the Society. 
Those who come always express surprise, and confess to 
new interest. 



44 REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT. 

The courtesies of the House were also extended to the 
Ipswich Woman's Club, the North Bridge Chapter of the 
Daughters of the Revohition from Salem, the Historical 
Class of the Crombie Street Church, Salem, and the Con- 
vention of Epworth Leagues. 

The Social Committee gave an antique supper which 
proved an admirable social occasion and may have intro- 
duced many to the House for the first time. Miss E. 
Agnes Constant is entitled to the sincere thanks of the 
Society for the delightful benefit concert given on Thanks- 
giving evening in the Town Hall, which netted twenty 
dollars for our treasury. Mr. and Mrs. Ralph W. 
Burnham, who have done so much for the House, removed 
to Philadelphia early in September, but we hope for their 
return for the summer of 1903. Miss Abbie M. Fellows 
very kindly served as resident curator for a few weeks, 
and Mrs. Colman Tyler began her work as curator pro 
tern., in October. Each and all have kept the House with 
the nice painstaking care which is a theme of constant 
praise, and a cordial welcome has been given to all visi- 
tors, though they may have come at inconvenient hours. 

By the liberality of the Town, funds were provided for 
the erection of bronze tablets, this year. One is bolted 
to the ledge on Meeting House Hill, and tells briefly the 
date of the settlement, and the points of interest that 
centre there. Another marks the site of Simon and Ann 
Bradstreet's dwelling, and a third, the site of Governor 
Dudley's residence. The exercises of dedication were 
held on July 31st, when Hon. Robert S. Rantoul of 
Salem, Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Augus- 
tine Jones, Esq., Principal of the Friends' School, 
Providence, R. I., delivered appropriate and eloquent 
addresses. Other localities deserve similar honor, and a 
continuance of the work should be made. 

Now that the heavy expense of repairing and restoring 
the House has been fully met, we may face with courage 
and high ambition the task, not merely of extinguishing 
the debt but of securing funds for the erection of the 
Memorial Building to which allusion has been made. 
Many people of wealth and refinement have sprung from 
Ipswich ancestry. It is so much in fashion in these days 
to give generously for libraries and memorials in the old 



EEPORT OF THE PRESIDENT. 45 

family home, that no apology is needed to explain any 
appeal that may be made for this purpose. 

The great names of Winthrop and Dudley and Salton- 
stall, of the famous ministers, of the soldiers Denison and 
Samuel Appleton, of the patriots of 1687, John Wise 
and his associates, and the grand deed they accomplished 
in the Ipswich Town Meeting, the names of soldiers in 
many wars, and of citizens who won honor for themselves in 
the quiet affairs of civil life, — all need to be grouped har- 
moniously and chiselled in stone or bronze, as an eternal 
memorial of their fair fame, and an illuminating and in- 
spiring appeal to high living in each succeeding generation. 
Such a Hall of Fame would be an educational factor of 
great value, and a constant source of pride in our town 
and its history. The expansion of our work that would 
follow easily and naturally from it would raise our Society 
to unique and broad distinction. Before another twelve 
months have passed, shall we not witness a substantial 
beginning of this great and honorable enterprise? 



REPORT OF THE CURATOR 

OF THE IPSWICH HISTORICAL SOCIETY FOR THE YEAR 
ENDING DEC. 1, 1902. 

The total number of names of visitors entered in the 
Visitors' Book was 1097. 

The total number of residents of Ipswich recorded was 
251 and the number of residents in the state of Massa- 
chusetts, not including residents of Ipswich was 533. 
The total of Massachusetts visitors was 784. 

The remainder were residents of nearl}' every state in 
the Union, as will appear from the following tabulation, 
covering four years. 

1899 1900 1901 1902 

Alabama, 2 

Arkansas, . . . - - I 

California, 4 6 2 4 

Colorado, 3 116 

Connecticut, 9 17 3 5 

Dist. of Columbia, - - - - 4 6 13 23 

Florida, 2 1 1 2 

Georgia, 1 1 2 

Illinois, 12 38 32 33 

Indiana, 4 2 2 

Iowa, 1 1 7 4 

Kansas, 3 

Kentucky, 3 4 1 

Louisiana, ..... 2 3 11 1 

Maine, 12 19 13 10 

Maryland, 6 4 8 9 

Massachusetts, ----- 918 1200 708 784 

Michigan, 9 8 4 2 

Minnesota, 6 16 12 4 

Missouri, 5 9 6 8 

Montana, 1 

Nebraska, 1 1 3 

(46) 



REPORT OF THE CURATOR. 47 

1899 1900 1901 1902 

New Hampshire, 21 

New Jersey, 14 

New York, 42 

North Carolina, - . . . o 

North Dakota, 

Ohio, 5 

Oregon, 

Pennsylvania, ----- 33 

Rhode Island, 4 

South Dakota, . - - - 

Tennessee, 

Texas, 2 

Vermont, 6 

Virginia, 5 

West Virginia, 

Wisconsin, 3 

Washington, 

Germany, 

New Brunswick, 1 

Nova Scotia, 2 

1,134 1,513 1,008 1052 

On February 22, the House was opened to the public 
and 31 names of visitors were recorded. 

On February 28, an old-fashioned supper was served 
and about 175 were present. No names were recorded 
on this occasion. 

The Ipswich Woman's Club held a Reception to officers 
of other Clubs on April 14, and 64 names were recorded. 
The North Bridge Chapter of the Daughters of the 
Revolution from Salem were entertained on June 5. 
Thirteen members were present. Twenty members of 
the Historical Class of the Crombie Street Church, Salem, 
were entertained on July 23. 

On July 31, the day of the Dedication of the bronze 
Tablets, 62 visitors recorded their names, and on Sept. 1, 
48 delegates to the Convention of Epworth Leagues 
visited the House. 

Ralph W. Burnham, Cumtor. 



16 


10 


17 


24 


24 


24 


79 


70 


59 


1 


2 








1 





13 


7 


15 





1 





20 


38 


19 


4 


3 


6 





1 





2 


6 







1 







3 






10 













1 













1 







1 










3 



REPORT OF THE TREASURER OF THE IPSWICH 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY FOR THE YEAR 

ENDING NOV. 29, 1902. 

T. Frank Waters in account loith Ipswich Hist. Society, 



Dr. 



To Balance from 1901, 

To door fees, sale of books aud pictures, - 

To annual fees, gifts, etc., 

To receipt from Concert, Nov. 27th, - 

Cr. 
To House account, 

Care of grounds, 23 05 

Care of house, - 26 96 

Fuel, ... 24 85 

Furniture account, 59 80 

Hardware, paint, etc., 2 years, - - - - 16 70 

Repairs, 24 10 

Water bUl, - 18 89 

Interest on mortgage, '■ ()4 00 

Fire-extinguisher, 12 00 

Photographs, 1818 

To Printing account 

Printing, 115 80 

Postage, stationery, etc., 23 57 

Miscellaneous, --.-.--- 
Cash on hand, 



(48) 



$37 92 

162 11 

466 23 

20 30 

$686 56 



288 03 



139 37 

45 63 

213 53 

$686 56 



DONATIONS FOR THE YEAR ENDING 
DEC. 1, 1902. 



Daniel Fuller Appleton. Life and Speeches of Rufus Choate in 
2 vols. 

Miss Georgianna Appleton. Boston. Harvard College Plate made by 
Enocli Wood & Sons. 

Albert D. Burnham. Indian pestle. 

Mrs. Walter Chapman. List of names. 

Benjamin H. Conant. Wenhara Town Report, 1901. Catalogue of 
Wenham Public Library. 

DouBLEDAY, Page & Co., New York. Miss Esther Singleton's " Fur- 
niture of our Forefathers," Nos. 5 to 8. 

Mrs. Josiah Dudley and Miss S. Louise Holmes. Ancient deeds. 
Dr. Daniel Dana's sermon on death of Mr. Benjamin Moody, 1802. 

Old Eliot. 1902. 

Mrs. Robert Farley. China tea-pot. 

Rev. J. Edward Flower, London, Eng. Photograph of Stocks on 
the Village Green, Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, England, 
Drawing of the Stocks and Whipping Post, Portskewett, near 
Chepston, Monmouthshire, England. Photograph of "Ye Ancient 
Ducking Stool," Leominster Priory Church, England. 

Miss Elizabeth W. G.\rdner, Salem. Two hand-woven towels An 
Oration delivered at Ipswich, April 29, 1783: "On account of 
the Happy Restoration of Peace," by Rev. Levi Erisbie. 

Joshua B. Grant. Edward Everett's address at the erection of 
a monument to John Harvard, Sept. 26, 1828. Mr. Eliot's sermon 
at the Ordination of Mr. Joseph McKean, and other pamphlets. 

Dr. Samuel A. Green, Secretary Massachusetts Historical Society. 
Pamphlet. Two Narratives of the Expedition against Quebec, A.D. 
1690, under Sir William Phips : one by Rev. John Wise of Ips- 
wich, the other by an unknown author. 

George F. Hovey. Two pamphlets. 

Miss S. Louise Holmes. F"'ile of The New York Independent, Jan. 
12, 1854 to Dec. 27, 1855. Five Commissions of Henry S. Holmes, 
signed by Gov. Levi Lincoln. Loan, a white silk bridal bonnet. 

Ipswich Public Library. Duplicates of Ipswich Seminary Cata- 
logues. 

(49) 



50 DONATIONS TO THE IPSWICH HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

Miss Bethiah Kinsman. Straw hat woru in West Indies, pocket 

books, etc., owned by her father, William Kinsman. 
Clarence Newman. Temperance pledge with list of names. Small 
trunk owned by William Cakes. Lock from old Ipswich Jail. 

Estate op Benjamin Newman. Collection of minerals. One old 
circular plane. A foot stove. 

New York State Library. Calendar of Council Minutes, 1668-1783. 
Public papers of George Clinton, first Governor of New York. 
Vol. V. 

Miss Hannah M. Peatfield. History of New England by Hannah 
Adams, 1807. Biography of the principal American Military and 
Naval Heroes, 2 vols. 1821. 

Miss Margaret Peatfield. Three old books. 

Records of the Court of Assistants of Massachusetts Bay, 
Vol. I. 

Charles H. Bicker. An old-fashioned door lock. A tinder box 
A sand shaker. A roasting iron. 

Timothy B. Ross. Piece of metallic fringe, used in decorating a 
triumphal arch that spanned Choate Bridge, when Lafayette 
visited Ipswich, June, 1824, preserved by Asa Andrews, Esq. 

George A. Schofield. Manual General Court, 1902. 

Col. Nath. Shatswell. Souvenir, First Regiment of Heavy Artil- 
lery, Mass. Vol., dedication of monument. May 19, 1901. 

Hon. Geo. Sheldon, Deerfleld. Vol. m. History and Proceedings 
of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Assoc. Pamphlets :" The 
Little Brown House on the Albany Road " ; "Flint-lock or Match- 
lock in King Philip's War" ; "The Flint-lock used in Philip's 
War." 

Edward A. Smith, Salem. Ancient Tapestry, wrought by Priscilla 
Baker. 

E. N. Spinney, Shelburne Falls. Ancient papers, Howe and Proctor 
families. 

Robert C. Wenthrop, Jr., Boston. Copies of papers in suit of 
Elizabeth, wife of Rev. Antipas Newman, of Wenham, daughter 
of John Winthrop, Jr., to recover Salt House property. Royal 
side, Beverly, 1677. 

Proceedings of State Historical Soctoty of Wisconsin, 1902. 



RESIDENT MEMBERS. 



Dr. Charles E. Ames, 
Daniel Fuller Appleton, 
Mrs. Susan A. R. Appleton, 
Francis R. Appleton, 
Mrs. Frances L. Appleton, 
James W. Appleton, 
Randolph M Appleton, 
Mrs. Helen Appleton, 
Miss S. Isabel Arthur, 
Dr. G. Guy Bailey, 
Mrs. Grace F. Bailey, 
Mrs. Elizabeth H. Baker, 
Miss Katharine C. Baker, 
Charles W. Bamtord, 
Miss Mary 1) Bates, 
John A. Blake, 
Mrs. Caroline E. Bomer, 
James W. Bond. 
Warren Boynton, 
Miss Annie Gertrude Brown, 
Charles W. Brown, 
Edward F. Brown, 
Mrs. Carrie U. Brown, 
Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, 
Mrs. Elizabeth M. Brown, 
Miss Isabelle G. Brown, 
James W. Brown, 
Mrs. Lavinia A. Brown, 
Miss Alice G. Burnham, 
Daniel S. Burnham, 
Ralph W. Burnham, 
Mrs. Nellie Mae Burnham, 
Fred F. Byron, 
Miss Joanna Caldwell, 
Miss Lydia A. Caldwell, 
Miss Sarah P. Caldwell, 
Charles A. Campbell, 
Mrs. Lavinia Campbell, 
Edward W. Choate, 
Philip E. Clarke, 
Mrs. Mary E. Clarke, 
Miss Lucy C. Coburn, 
John H. Cogswell, 
Theodore F. Cogswell, 
Arthur VV. Conant, 
Miss Harriet D. Condon, 



Rev. Edward Constant, 
Miss Roxie C. Cowles, 
Charles S. Cummings, 
Rev. Temple Cutler, 
Arthur C. Damon, 
Mrs. Carrie Damon, 
Mrs. Cordelia Damon, 
Everett G. Damon, 
Harry K. Damon, 
Mis.Abby Danforth, 
Mrs. Grace Davis, 
Mrs. Howard Dawson, 
George G. Dexter, 
Miss C. Bertha Dobson, 
Harry K. Dodge, 
Rev. .lohii M. Donovan, 
Mrs. Sarah B. Dudley, 
Mrs. Charles G. Dyer, 
George Fall, 
Miss Emeliiie C. Farley, 
Mrs. Emma Farley, 
Miss Lucy \i. Farley, 
Miss Abbie M. Fellows, 
Benjamin Fewkes, 
James E. Gallagher, 
John S. Glover, 
Frank T. Goodhue, 
John W. Goodhue, 
John J. Gould, 
Miss Harriet F. Gove, 
James Gi'aflFum, 
Mrs. Eliza H. Green, 
Mrs. Lois Hardy, 
Mrs. Kate L. Haskell, 
George H. W. Hayes, 
Mrs Alice L. Heard, 
Miss Alice Heard, 
John Heard, 

Mrs. Louise S. Hodgkins, 
Miss S. Louise Holmes, 
Charles G. Hull, 
Miss Lucy S. Jewett, 
John A. Johnson, 
Miss Ellen M. Jordan, 
Albert Jovce, 
Charles M. Kelly, 

(51) 



52 



NON-RESIDENT MEMBERS. 



Fred A. Kimball, 

Robert S. Kimball, 

Miss Bethiah I). Kinsman, 

Miss Mary E. Kinsman, 

Mrs Snsan K. Kinsman, 

Dr. Frank W. Kyes, 

Mrs. Georgia C Kyes, 

Curtis E. Lakemaii, 

J. Howard Lakeman, 

G. Frank Langdon, 

Mrs. G F. Langdon, 

Austin L. Lord, 

George A. Lord, 

Miss Lucy Slade Lord, 

Thomas H. Lord, 

Mrs. Lucre tia S. Lord, 

Walter E. Lord, 

Dr. George E. Mac Arthur. 

Mrs. Isabelle G. Mac Arthur, 

James F. Maun, 

John P. Marston, 

Everard H. Martin, 

Mrs. Marietta K. Martin, 

Miss Abby L. Newman, 

Mrs. Amanda Nichols, 

William J. Norwood, 

Mrs. Elizabeth B Norwood, 

John W. Nourse, 

Charles H. Noyes. 

Mrs. Harriet E. Noyes, 

Ke\ . Reginald Pearce, 

L E B. Perkins, 

Miss Carrie S Pt-rley, 

Augusiine H. Plouff, 

James H. Proctor, 

James S. Robinson, .Jr. 

Mrs. Anna C. C. Robinson, 

Rev. WiUiam H. Rogers, 

Miss .Anna W. Ross, 

Fred. G. Ross, 



Mrs. Mary F. Rosa, 

Jost'ph Ross, 

Mrs. Joan Ross, 

Joseph F. Ross, 

Mrs. Helene Ross, 

Dr. William H. Russell, 

William S. Russell, 

William W. Russell, 

Daniel Saflbrd, 

Emma Safford, 

Angus Savory, 

Charles A. Sayward, 

Mrs. Henrietta W. Sayward 

George A. Scho field, 

Amos E. Scotton, 

Dexter M. Smith, 

Mrs. Olive P. Smith, 

Mrs. Elizabeth K. Spaulding, 

George W. Starkey, 

Dr. Frank H. Stock well, 

Mrs. Sadie B. Stockwell, 

Edward M. Sullivan, 

John J. Sullivan, 

Mrs. Elizabeth M. Sullivan, 

Arthur L. Sweetser, 

John E. Tenney, 

Mrs. Annie T. Tenney, 

Samuel H. Thurston, 

Miss Ellen R. Trask, 

Francis H. Wade, 

Miss Nellie F. Wade, 

Miss Emma E. Wait, 

Luther Wait, 

Rev. T. Frank Waters, 

Mrs. Adeline M. Waters, 

Miss Susan C. Whipple, 

Fred G. Whittier, 

Mrs Marianna Whittier, 

Miss Eva Adams Willcomb, 

Chester P. Woodbury, 



NON-RKSIDENT MEMBERS. 



Frederick J. Alley 

Mrs. .Vlary G. Alley 

Henry Brown* 

John B Brown* 

Mrs. Lucy T. Brown* 

Frank T. Burnham 

Rev. Augustine Caldwell 

El>en Caldwell 

Miss Florence F. Caldwell 

Rufns Choate 

E. Harry Clegg 

Dr. Richard H. Derby 



Flarailton, Mass. 

Melrose, Mass. 
. Chicago, HI. 



So. Framinghain, Mass. 

Eliot, Me. 

Elizabeth, N. J. 

. Philadelphia, Pa. 

Essex, Mass. 

Gloucester, Mass. 

. New York, N. Y. 



♦Sunnner lionie In Ipswich. 



HONORAKY MKMHKR8. 



53 



Joseph 1). Dodge 
Mrs. Editli S. Dole . 
Arthur W. Dow* 
Joseph K. Farley 
Sylvanus C. Farley . 
])r. E. S. Goodhue . 
Samuel V. Goodhue 
Miss Mary A. Hodgdou 
Key. Horace C Hovey 
Miss Huth A. Hovey 
Gerald L. Hoyt* 
Mrs. May Hoyt* 
Miss Julia Hoyt* 
Lydig Ho>t* 
Edward Kavanagh 
Arthur S Kimball . 
Rev. John C. Kimball 
Rev. Frederic J Kiusman 
Mrs. Caroline E. Le Baron 
Mrs. Mary B. Main . 
Miss Heloise Meyer 
Mis. Anna Osgood* . 
Rev. Robert B. Parker* 
Moritz B. Phillpp* . 
Benjamin W. Pierson 
Fred. H. Plouff, 
A. David.son Remick 
James E. Richardson 
Mrs. Lucv C. Roberts 
Mrs. E. M. H. Slade . 
Edward A. Smith 
Miss Elizabeth P. Smith 
Mrs. Harriette A. Smith* 
Henrv P- Smith 
Rev. "r. Cotton Smith* 
Mrs. Alice L. Story 
Rev. William H. Thayer* 
Bayard Tuckerman* 
Charles S. Tuckta-man* 
Charles H. Tweed 
Miss Laura B. Uuderhill* 
Miss Martha E. Wade 
Miss Annie L. Warner 
Mrs. Caroline L Warner 
Henrv C. Warner 
Wallace P. Willett . 
Mrs. Elizal)eth Willett 
Robert D. Winthrop 
Chalmers Wood* 



Lynn, Mass. 
Newbury, Mass. 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Lihue, Kauai, Hawaiian Islands. 
Alton, ni. 
Wailuku, Maui, Hawaiian Islands. 
Salem, Mass. 
Forest Grove, Ore. 
Newburyport, Mass. 
Lake Mohonk, N. Y. 
New York. N. Y. 



Essex, Mass. 

Oberlin, O. 

Sharon, Mass. 

Middiebury, Conn. 

Chardon, O. 

Middletown, Conn. 

Hamilton, Mass. 

Orange, N. J. 

Providence, R. I. 

New York, N. Y. 

Boston, Mass. 

it (( 

Salem, Mass. 

Cambridge, Mass. 

New York, N. Y. 

Salem, Mass. 

New York, N. Y. 

Salem, Mass. 

Washington, D. C. 

Essex, Mass. 

Southboro, Mass. 

New York, N. Y. 

Boston, Mass. 

New York, N, Y. 

Somerville, Mass. 
Swampscott, Mass. 



East Orange, N. J. 
New York, N. Y. 



HONORARY MEMBERS. 



John Albree. Jr. 
William Sumner Appleton 
Miss Lucy Hammatt Brown 
Mrs. Edward Cordis 



Swampscott, Mass. 
Boston, Mass. 

Jamaica Plain, Mass. 



* Summer home in Ipswich. 



54 



HONORARY MEMBERS. 



Charles W. Darling 
Miss Caroline Farley 
Frank C. Farley 
Mrs. Katherine S. Farley 
Mrs. Eunice W. Kelton 
Jesse Fewkes . 
Reginald Foster 
Augustus P. Gardner 
Charles L. Goodhne 
Mrs. Elizabeth K. Gray, 
Miss Emily R. Gray 
Arthur W.' Hale 
Albeit Farley Heard, 2d 
Otis Kimball 
Mrs. Otis Kimball 
Miss Sarah S. Kimball 
Frederick J. Kingsbury 
Miss Caroline T. Leeds 
Miss Katherine P. Loring 
Mrs. Susan M. Loiing 
Mrs. Elizai)eth R. Lyman 
Josiah H. Mann 
Miss Adeline E. Manning 
Henry S. Manning 
Mrs. Mary W. Manning 
George von L. Meyer 
Miss Esther Parmenter 
Mrs. Mary S. C. Peahody, 
Frederic H. Ringe 
Richard M. Saltoiistall 
Denison R. Slade 
Joseph Spiller 
Miss Ellen A. Stone 
Miss Ann H Treadwell 
Harry W. Tyler 
Albert Wade 
Edward P. Wade 
George Willcomb 
Robert C. Winthrop, Jr. 



Utica 


N. Y. 


Cambridge, 
So. Manchester, 


Mass 
Conn 


Cambridge, 
Newton, 


Mass 
Mass 


Boston, 


Mass 


Hamilton, 


Mass 


SpringHeld, 
Ipswicli, 


Mass 

Mass 


Sauqiioit 
Winchester, 


N. Y 

Mass 


Boston, 


Mass 



Salem, Mass. 

Water bury, Conn. 

Boston, Mass. 



. Brookline, Mass. 

Ipswich, Mass. 

Boston, Mass. 

. New York, N. Y. 

Home, Italy. 

Rowley, Mass. 

Ipswich, Mass. 

Los Angeles, Cal. 

Boston, Mass. 

Center Harbor, N. H. 

Boston, Mass. 

East Lexinaton, Mass. 

Jamaica Plain, Mass. 

Boston, Mass. 

Alton, 111. 

Boston, Mass. 



LEJL'08 



PUBLICATIONS 



IPSWICH HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



I. The Oration by Rev. Washington Choate and the Poem by Rev. 

Edgar F. Davis, on the 200th Anniversary of the Resistance to 
tbe Andros Tax, 1887. Price 25 cents. 

II. The President's Address and other Proceedings at the Dedica- 

tion of their new room, Feb. 3, 1896. Price 10 cents. 

III. Unveiling of the Memorial Tablets at the South Common and 

IV. Proceedings at the Annual Meeting, Dec. 7, 1896. Price 25 
cents. 

V. The Early Homes of the Puritans and Some Old Ipswich Houses, 

v?ith Proceedings at the Annual Meeting, 1897. Price 60 cents. 
(Out of print.) 

VI. Exercises at the Dedication of the Ancient House with a History 

of the House, and Proceedings at the Annual Meeting, 1898. 
Out of print, but the History of the House is reprinted in Num- 
ber X. 

VII. A Sketch of the Life of John Winthrop the Younger, with 

portrait and valuable reproductions of ancient documents 

and auto c-"'^^ "^ '\v T. Frank Waters. Price .$2.50. Postage 
13 cents. 

VIII. "The Development of our Town Government" and "Com- 

mon Lands and Commonage," with the Proceedings at the 
Annual Meeting, 1899. Price 25 cents. 

IX. A History of the Old Argilla Road in Ipswich, Massachusetts, 

by T. Frank Waters. Price 25 cents. 

X. •■ The Hotel Cluny of a New England Village," by Sylvester Bax- 

ter, and the History of the Ancient House, with Proceedings 
at the Annual Meeting, 1900. Price 25 cents. 

he Meeting House Green and a Study of Houses and Lands in 
that vicinity, with Proceedings at the Annual Meeting, Dec. 2, 
1901. Price, 26 cents. 

XII. 'J'hoiiias Dudley and Simon and Ann Bradstreet. A Study of 
House-Lots to Determine the Location of Their Homes, and 
the Exercises at the Dedication of Tablets, July 31, 1902, 

-.villi Pi-nrppflii-iirs ^i tlip Aiinnnl Meeting, Dec. 1, 1902. 



• V7 " ^ 



,ir^ 



r\. 



'\.^ -^ 



U^, 



J ti 



. > 








V M^ 



1%^'' 




, iRRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 078 902 1 ♦ 



»Pif,w:«s 



